40,000-year-old Europeans carried haplogroups M, N, R, U8. DNA from 40,000-year-old Homo sapiens in Europe shows maternal haplogroups M, N, R, and U8 Haplogroup M is nearly absent in modern Europe but widespread in East, South, Southeast Asia and Oceania This suggests early Europeans shared close ancestry with populations that gave rise to Asians and Australo-Melanesians
Ancient DNA from upper Paleolithic Europeans reveals maternal haplogroups including N, R, and U8 — showing early Homo sapiens in Europe were genetically diverse with ties to Asian lineages. Some haplogroups later vanished from Europe while persisting elsewhere, hinting at later population replacements. Specifically, haplogroup M is nearly absent in modern Europe but widespread in East, South, Southeast Asia and Oceania; haplogroups N and R are basal branches of the non-African mitochondrial DNA tree; and U8 appears in upper Paleolithic European remains and is ancestral to haplogroups U5 and U4 — along with sharing a common origin with U5.
Key Facts
- DNA from 40,000-year-old Homo sapiens in Europe shows maternal haplogroups M, N, R, and U8
- Haplogroup M is nearly absent in modern Europe but widespread in East, South, Southeast Asia and Oceania
- This suggests early Europeans shared close ancestry with populations that gave rise to Asians and Australo-Melanesians
- Haplogroups N and R are basal branches of the non-African mitochondrial DNA tree
- U8 appears in upper paleolithic European remains and is ancestral to haplogroups UF and U4
- These maternal lineages show the earliest waves of Homo sapiens into Europe were genetically diverse
- Haplogroup M vanished from Europe while persisting in Asia, indicating population replacement
Source: The First Europeans Who Conquered Neanderthals 45k years ago by Timeless with Fred Snyder