Description

Haplogroup D4 is the most diverse and widespread subclade of mtDNA haplogroup D, accounting for the majority of D lineages in East Asia and Siberia. It is broadly distributed across China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Siberia, and Central Asia, and also reaches the Americas via ancient Beringian populations. D4 contains dozens of sub-branches reflecting the deep population history of East and Northeast Asia. It was among the founding lineages that colonized the Americas, making it one of the five major mtDNA haplogroups of Native Americans.

Interesting Fact

D4 is one of the most diverse mtDNA haplogroups in the world by number of sub-branches, reflecting its ancient origin and long evolutionary history in East Asia and Siberia — some D4 sub-branches are estimated to be over 20,000 years old.

Distribution by Ethnicity

Ethnic distributionRegionFrequencySample
SiberiansSiberia
20%
n=500
MongoliansEast/Central Asia
15%
n=600
Chinese (Han)East Asia
10%
n=3000
JapaneseEast Asia
8%
n=1000

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References

  1. Kong et al. (2011) — Large-scale mtDNA screening reveals a surprising matrilineal complexity in east Asia and its implications to the peopling of the region. Molecular Biology and Evolution 28(1), 513–522.