Hello again,
This message is background to one that will follow... I ask that you please
suffer through it, so you will understand the next message, which is the
important one -- if you're interested in really making the best use of DNA
testing to sort out the genealogy of Peter CARRICO, 1674 immigrant to Maryland.
The method itself is applicable to any family, but in order to work, it does
take testing a lot of descendants from the same progenitor, so we will be
applying it first to Peter's family before we will be able to apply it to the
other two families in the project (the CARRICO with an origin in Brazil and the
CARACO with an origin in Turkey), unless they are suddenly very successful in
bringing cousins into the project.
Most of you have seen the "Y-DNA HAPLOGROUP TREE" produced by FTDNA:
http://www.familytreedna.com/haplotree.html
This tree represents the evolutionary path of humans based on SNP mutations, the
mutations that define haplogroups. This kind of branching diagram is called a
"cladogram" because it's constructed using a kind of analysis called,
"cladistics." Each branch of the cladogram represents a clade or subclade
(group or subgroup).
The tree begins with Haplogroup A, at the upper left, from which all later
haplogroups evolved through the accumulation of mutations. What you probably
can see, but not read, on this image is that there are small numbers at the
branches of the cladogram and at the tips of the arms of the cladogram. To read
these, we really need a bigger image of the chart or the image of a smaller
section of it. The Haplogroup J section is on this page at FTDNA, that is
describing FTDNA's deep SNP test offerings, which some of you have taken:
http://www.familytreedna.com/deepclade.html
When you get there, please click on the link to "Deep Clade for Haplogroup J."
The table lists the subclades of Haplogroup J and the mutations (i.e., the SNPs)
that define them. Yes, it takes 23(+) separate tests, for 23(+) separate
mutations, to determine one's Haplogroup J subclade.
Below the table is a diagram that you will now recognize as a cladogram. It's
the Haplogroup J cladogram. Note how the mutations in the table appear on the
arms of the cladogram because each arm (each branch) of the cladogram has to be
defined by at least one new mutation. Note especially that each arm of the
cladogram includes its defining mutation *in addition to* all the mutatations
above it on its arm of the tree.
The larger, single letters at the branches, the "nodes," are the name of that
node. Over at the right, on the tips of the branches, are the full names of all
the subclades. But please don't study this chart too long. FTDNA's
classifaction is rather out of date and typically includes only the tests that
they market. For those reasons, I follow the ISOGG (International Society of
Genetic Genealogy) classification:
http://www.isogg.org/tree/Main06.html
Their Haplogroup J tree is on this page:
http://www.isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_HapgrpJ.html
While the ISOGG tree is more accurate and up-to-date than the FTDNA tree, it's
harder to visualize as a cladogram, which is why I at least wanted you to see
the "classic" cladograms at FTDNA, first. The next thing I would like you to
compare is the Haplogrou J "SNP Chart" at the CARRICO project web site:
http://dgmweb.net/genealogy/DNA/Carrico/CarricoDNA-results-HgJ2.shtml#SNP...
There is no substantial difference in content of my SNP Chart and the ISOGG
tree, except that I've turned the tree into an HTML (web) table. [Gasp, all
that just to get here?!] Putting a true cladogram on a web page means creating
it in a drawing program, then turning into a graphic image. Revising the
graphic image means redrawing the cladogram, redigitizing it, and uploading the
new image. That is soooooo much more trouble than using an HTML table that I've
opted to do so.
What's important about appreciating that an HTML table can substitute for a
cladogram comes in the next message.
Please stay tuned,
Diana