Description
Haplogroup O2a (M95) is the primary subclade of O2 associated with Austroasiatic-speaking populations of Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is found at high frequencies among Mon-Khmer, Munda, and other Austroasiatic groups. O2a carriers participated in the ancient agricultural expansion of mainland Southeast Asia and the spread of Austroasiatic languages from a homeland in South China or mainland Southeast Asia into the Indian subcontinent. It also forms a significant component of the paternal gene pool in parts of South China, Vietnam, and the eastern Indian subcontinent.
Interesting Fact
The distribution of O2a (M95) closely tracks the geographic extent of Austroasiatic language families — from the Munda tribes of central India to the Khmer of Cambodia and the Mon of Myanmar — providing one of the strongest known genetic correlates for a language family expansion in Asia.
Distribution by Ethnicity
| Ethnic distribution | Region | Frequency | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| Munda (India) | South Asia | n=200 | |
| Khmer (Cambodian) | Southeast Asia | n=300 | |
| Mon-Khmer groups | Southeast Asia | n=400 | |
| Vietnamese | Southeast Asia | n=500 | |
| Malays | Southeast Asia | n=400 |
Tags
References
- Shi et al. (2005) — Y-chromosome evidence of earliest modern human settlement in East Asia. BMC Biology 3, 5.
- Kumar et al. (2007) — Y-chromosome evidence suggests a common paternal heritage of Austro-Asiatic populations. BMC Evolutionary Biology 7, 47.