Haplogroup K2b (Y-DNA)
Haplogroup K2b (P331), also known as MPS is a human y-chromosome haplogroup that is thought to be less than 3,000 years younger than K, and less than 10,000 years younger than F, meaning it probably is around 50,000 years old, according to the age estimates of Tatiana Karafet et al. 2014.
| Haplogroup K2b (P331) | |
|---|---|
| Possible time of origin | About 3,000 years younger than K-M9 40,000-50,000 years old |
| Possible place of origin | Probably Central Asia, South Asia or Southeast Asia |
| Ancestor | K2 |
| Descendants |
|
| Defining mutations | P331, CTS2019/M1205, PF5990/L405, PF5969, |
Basal K2b* has not been identified in living males.
K2b1 (P397/P399) known previously as Haplogroup MS, and Haplogroup P (P-P295), also known as K2b2 are the only primary clades of K2b. The population geneticist Tatiana Karafet and other researchers (2014) point out that K2b1, its subclades and P* are virtually restricted geographically to South East Asia and Oceania. Whereas, in a striking contrast, P1 (P-M45) and its primary subclades Q and R now make up "the most frequent haplogroup in Europe, the Americas, and Central Asia and South Asia". According to Karafet et al., the estimated dates for the branching of K, K2, K2b and P point to a "rapid diversification" within K2 "that likely occurred in Southeast Asia", with subsequent "westward expansions" of P*, P1, Q and R.
According to geneticist Spencer Wells, haplogroup K originated in the Middle East or Central Asia, in the region of Iran or Pakistan.