One of the world’s greatest genetic mysteries is how a DNA marker present in Europe reached North America, leaving no clear trail through Siberia or Alaska.
Scientists have been baffled by how Haplogroup X arrived more than 12,000 years ago, raising new questions about how the Americas were first populated.
Haplogroup X is a rare maternal DNA lineage, passed down from mother to child, found in both Europe and North America.
Its unusual presence suggests that early Americans may have arrived in multiple waves, challenging the traditional view that all Native American maternal lineages came solely from Siberia via the Bering Land Bridge.
Other haplogroups provide a clear picture of the Asian origins of most Native American maternal lineages, which makes Haplogroup X’s unusual distribution all the more striking.
The mysterious DNA marker’s unusual presence suggests that early Americans may have arrived in multiple waves, challenging the traditional view that all Native American maternal lineages came solely from Siberia via the Bering Land Bridge (pictured)
‘That rarity makes it a powerful clue for tracing human history,’ Kostroman said. ‘When an uncommon marker appears in distant, disconnected regions, it signals a shared connection in the deep past.’
Haplogroup X is rare in Siberia and Alaska, with some researchers suggesting that it represents an earlier migration, possibly via a coastal route.
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