Haplogroup F

In human genetics, haplogroup F is a very common Y-chromosome haplogroup spanning all the continents. This haplogroup and its subclades contain more than 90% of the world’s existing non-African male population. Sometimes it is referred to as haplogroup FT to distinguish the part of it which is referred to in standard nomenclature as haplogroup (or paragroup) F-M89* (the branches of haplogroup F-M89 which have not yet been designated as defining a major haplogroup of their own).

This haplogroup is ancestral to, and contains, Y-chromosome haplogroups G (M201), H (M69), and IJK (L15/S137, L16/S138, L69.1(=G)/S163.1) along with their descendant haplogroups.

This megahaplogroup contains mainly lineages that are not typically found in sub-Saharan Africa, suggesting that its ancestral haplogroup CF may have been carried out of Africa very early in the modern human diaspora, and F-M89 may have appeared 48,000 (38,700-55,700) years ago, probably in Eurasia.

According to the phylogeographic distribution of haplotypes observed among South Asian populations defined by social and linguistic criteria, the possibility arose of haplogroup F might have originated in or near India, and F-M89* might share a common demographic history with H-M69, C5, R2 and L1.

The presence of several subclusters of F-M89 and K that are largely restricted to the Indian subcontinent is consistent with the scenario that a coastal (southern route) of early human migration out of Africa carried ancestral Eurasian lineages first to the coast of the Indian subcontinent, or that some of them originated there.

Other sources mention that this ancient haplogroup may have first appeared in North Africa, the Levant, or the Arabian Peninsula as much as 50,000 years ago (50,300±6500). It is sometimes believed to represent a “second-wave” of expansion out of Africa.

However, the location of this lineage’s first expansion and rise to prevalence appears to have been in South Asia or somewhere close to it within the extended Middle East. All of Haplogroup F’s descendant haplogroups also show a pattern of radiation from South Asia (haplogroups H, F* and K) or the Middle East (haplogroups G and IJ).

Several lineages derived from Haplogroup F-M89 appear to have migrated into Africa from a homeland in Southwest Asia sometime during prehistory. Y-chromosome haplogroups associated with this hypothetical “Back to Africa” migration include J, R1b, and T.