Haplogroup M (mt DNA)

Haplogroup M (mt DNA)

In human mitochondrial genetics, Haplogroup M is a human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup. An enormous haplogroup spanning all the continents, the macro-haplogroup M, like its sibling N, is a descendant of haplogroup L3.

All mtDNA haplogroups considered native outside of Africa are descendants of either haplogroup M or its sibling haplogroup N. The geographical distributions of M and N are associated with discussions concerning out of Africa migrations and the subsequent colonization of the rest of the world. In particular, it is often taken to indicate that it is very likely that there was one particularly major prehistoric migration of humans out of Africa, and that both M and N were part of this colonization process.