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Description

Haplogroup B4a is a subclade of B4 and the direct ancestor of B4a1a, the 'Polynesian motif' — the defining mtDNA marker of Polynesian populations. B4a is found among Austronesian-speaking populations of Taiwan, the Philippines, Island Southeast Asia, and Polynesia. B4a1a (the Polynesian motif) underwent a dramatic demographic expansion approximately 3,000–3,500 years ago when Austronesian-speaking seafarers began their extraordinary colonization of Remote Oceania, eventually reaching as far as Hawaii, New Zealand, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), and Madagascar.

Interesting Fact

B4a1a, derived from B4a, is called the 'Polynesian motif' because it is found in essentially 100% of indigenous Polynesian populations — Hawaiians, Maori, Samoans, Tongans, Tahitians, and Rapa Nui people alike. Its near-total fixation in Polynesia reflects the extraordinary demographic bottleneck of the founding Polynesian population, whose entire female ancestry may trace back to a few dozen women who carried this haplogroup during the peopling of Remote Oceania.

Distribution by Ethnicity

Ethnic distributionRegionFrequencySample
Polynesians (Samoan, Hawaiian, Maori)Polynesia
95%
n=500
MicronesiansMicronesia
60%
n=200
MalagasyMadagascar
45%
n=150
Taiwanese aboriginesEast Asia
20%
n=200
FilipinosSoutheast Asia
10%
n=300

Tags

PolynesiaAustronesianPacificMadagascarTaiwanOceaniamtDNA

References

  1. Pierson et al. (2006) — Deciphering past human population movements in Oceania: provably optimal trees of 127 mtDNA genomes. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23(10), 1966–1975.
  2. Trejaut et al. (2005) — Traces of archaic mitochondrial lineages persist in Austronesian-speaking Formosan populations. PLOS Biology 3(8), e247.
  3. Soares et al. (2011) — Ancient voyaging and Polynesian origins. American Journal of Human Genetics 88(2), 239–247.