Summary
Age: 26,681.5 ± 4,339.3; CI=95% (Behar et al., 2012b)
Origin: West Asia
Variants: A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C!
FTDNA Tree: Link
Parent Branch: U8b
Descendant branch(s): K1 K2 K3
YFull Info
Name: KAge: 34900 to 22400 ybp [95% CI]
Expansion: -
Variants: A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C!
Note: This information does not imply an endorsement of YFull or their methods. It is provided at the request of readers.
Haplogroup K is a branch on the maternal tree of human kind. It is a child of haplogroup U8b. It was likely born in the West Asia around 27,000 years ago. (Behar et al., 2012b)

Origin
Most researchers consider the birthplace of K to be in West Asia.
Age
Behar et al., 2012b placed the birth of the K lineage between 22,300 and 31,000 years ago. This means the line was born in the Upper Paleolithic. People were using stone tools.
Ancient DNA
Coming Soon
Timeline
This timeline is an overview of the K branch’s history from the first early people to the birth of the first woman from the K lineage. (View in new tab.)
National Geographic Geno 2.0 Text
Age: 31,400 Years Ago
Origin: West Asia
Blurb: This branch of your maternal ancestors’ journey was born in West Asia. It has followed many of the same migration paths as its ancestors. A possible participant in the Neolithic Revolution, this line has left diverse subtypes throughout West Asia. There it is between 5 percent and 16 percent of the population groups, and in Europe, where it is between 10 percent and 18 percent of the population groups. It has a high frequency of 16 percent in the Druze population.Geneticists have found this lineage in several archaeological sites such as the Neolithic site of Tell Halula in Syria.
Three of this line’s subtypes make up three of the four most common maternal lineages in Ashkenazi Jews.
Interest Point: Ötzi the Iceman was a member of this lineage.
Author: Rebekah A. Canada | Copyright: National Geographic
mtDNA Haplogroup K Phylotree History
Phylotree.org is the maternal (mtDNA) tree of humanity. It is maintained by Dr. Mannis Van Oven. Each build is a major update to the tree. The current build is #17.
Build# | Called | Variants (Mutations) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
01 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 27 Aug 2008 |
02 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 14 Oct 2008 |
05 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 8 Jul 2009 |
06 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 28 Sep 2009 |
07 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 10 Nov 2009 |
08 | K | 3480 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 21 Mar 2010 |
09 | K | 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 20 Jun 2010 |
10 | K | 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 10 Aug 2010 |
11 | K | 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 7 Feb 2011 |
12 | K | 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 20 Jul 2011 |
13 | K | 10550 11299 14798 16224 16311 | Released 28 Dec 2011; Last Build to use the rCRS |
14 | K | A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C! | Released 5 Apr 2012; First version to use the RSRS |
15 | K | A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C! | Released 30 Sep 2012 |
16 | K | A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C! | Released 19 Feb 2014 |
17 | K | A10550G T11299C T14798C T16224C T16311C! | Released 18 Feb 2016 |
mtDNA Haplogroup K Data Sources
GenBank Samples
GenBank is a database of genetic sequence data. It is run by the United States National Institute of Health. It serves as the main repository for mtDNA full sequence profiles. Samples come both from published academic literature and donations from genetic genealogy community members. In addition to GenBank samples, listings below may include other samples published but not submitted to GenBank such as those from the HapMap project.
Note: GenBank results currently use Phylotree build 16. I am working on changing results over to build 17.
Hg ID | Origin | Publication | Hg BLD16 | Hg BLD17 | Hg YFull | Missing Variants | Additional Variants |
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Sources & Resources
Related Sources
- Behar, D.M., van Oven, M., Rosset, S., Metspalu, M., Loogväli, E.L., Silva, N.M., Kivisild, T., Torroni, A. and Villems, R. (2012). A “Copernican” reassessment of the human mitochondrial DNA tree from its root. American journal of human genetics, 90(4), 675-684.
- Fan, L., & Yao, Y. G. (2011). MitoTool: a web server for the analysis and retrieval of human mitochondrial DNA sequence variations. Mitochondrion, 11(2), 351-356.
- Fan, L., & Yao, Y. G. (2013). An update to MitoTool: using a new scoring system for faster mtDNA haplogroup determination. Mitochondrion, 13(4), 360-363.
- Van Oven, M., & Kayser, M. (2009). Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation. Human mutation, 30(2), E386-E394.
Additional Resources
- Ian Logan’s mtDNA Pages
- Ian Logan’s Instructions for mtGenome Genbank Donation
- James Lick’s mtDNA Utility
- The FTDNA Haplogroup Project for Haplogroup K
- The Wikipedia Article for Haplogroup K
mtDNA Consultants
The following members of the community offer paid consulting for those seeking help with mtDNA results. Inclusion on this list is not a recommendation or endorsement of any service.
Keywords
Peoples: | Places:
Last Updated: [lastupdated]