July 16, 2005

10,300-year old Alaskan had mtDNA haplogroup D

A short piece of news from Nature reports on an analysis of mtDNA from a 10,300-year old Alaskan who belonged to mtDNA haplogroup D, a common Amerindian lineage. More importantly, this old Alaskan shares mutations with 47 living Native Americans who are scattered throughout the continent. This is an important find, which establishes clearly the antiquity of the ancestors of native Americans in the New World.

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