Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)

Haplogroup I-M170
Possible time of origin	Present 31-35,000 years BP
Possible place of origin	The Caucasus, Europe or South West Asia
Ancestor	IJ
Descendants	I*, I1, I2
Defining mutations	L41, M170, M258, P19_1, P19_2, P19_3, P19_4, P19_5, P38, P212, U179

Haplogroup I (M170) is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is a subgroup of haplogroup IJ, which itself is a derivative of the haplogroup IJK.

I-M170 is one of the most numerous haplogroups among European males. Subclades can be found in most present-day European populations, with peaks in some Northern European and South East European countries. Consequently, I-M170 represents up to one-fifth of the male population of Europe, being the continent's second major Y-DNA haplogroup (behind Haplogroup R).

The haplogroup reaches its maximum frequency in the Balkans (with the highest concentration in present-day Herzegovina). It may be associated with unusually tall males, since those in the Dinaric Alps have been reported to be the tallest in the world, with an average height of 185.6 cm (6 ft 1.1 in).

While a European point of origin has often been proposed – as I-M170 has not found outside Europe in Paleolithic remains – the modern populations with the greatest proportions of basal, undiverged I* are found in the Caucasus and Iran. These include the Darginians (Dargwa) and North Ossetians of the North Caucasus, and ethnic Iranians from Tehran and Isfahan.

In addition, living examples of the precursor Haplogroup IJ* have been found only in Iran, among the Mazandarani and ethnic Persians from Fars. This may indicate that IJ originated in South West Asia.

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Wikipedia