Haplogroup R1a
| Haplogroup R1a | |
|---|---|
| Possible time of origin | 22,000 to 25,000 years ago |
| Possible place of origin | Eurasia |
| Ancestor | Haplogroup R1 |
| Descendants | R-M459, R-YP4141 |
| Defining mutations |
|
| Highest frequencies | See List of R1a frequency by population |
Haplogroup R1a (R-M420), is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup which is distributed in a large region in Eurasia, extending from Scandinavia and Central Europe to Central Asia, southern Siberia and South Asia.
The R1a (R-M420) subclade diverged from R1 (R-M173) 15-25,000 years ago, its subclade M417 (R1a1a1) diversified c. 3,400-5,800 years ago. The place of origin of the subclade plays a role in the debate about the origins of Proto-Indo-Europeans.
The SNP mutation R-M420 was discovered after R-M17 (R1a1a), which resulted in a reorganization of the lineage in particular establishing a new paragroup (designated R-M420*) for the relatively rare lineages which are not in the R-SRY10831.2 (R1a1) branch leading to R-M17.