Haplogroup E-M96

Haplogroup E-M96 is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is one of the two main branches of the older and ancestral haplogroup DE, the other main branch being haplogroup D. The E-M96 clade is divided into two main subclades: the more common E-P147, and the less common E-M75. Underhill (2001) proposed that haplogroup E may have arisen in East Africa. Some authors as Chandrasekar (2007), accept the earlier position of Hammer (1997) that Haplogroup E may have originated in West Asia, given that: E is a clade of haplogroup DE, with the other major clade, haplogroup D, being exclusively distributed in Asia. DE is a clade within M168 with the other two major clades, C and F, considered to have already a Eurasian origin. However, several discoveries made since the Hammer articles are thought to make an Asian origin less likely: Underhill and Kivisild (2007) demonstrated that C and F have a common ancestor meaning that DE has only one sibling which is non-African. DE* is found in both Asia and Africa, meaning that not only one, but several siblings of D are found in Asia and Africa. Karafet (2008), in which Hammer is a co-author, significantly rearranged time estimates leading to "new interpretations on the geographical origin of ancient sub-clades". Amongst other things this article proposed a much older age for haplogroup E-M96 than had been considered previously, giving it a similar age to Haplogroup D, and DE itself, meaning that there is no longer any strong reason to see it as an offshoot of DE which must have happened long after DE came into existence and had entered Asia. Kohl et al. (2009) presumed a West African origin for haplogroup E, stating: "From the 20 main haplogroups in the Y-chromosomal haplogroup tree, only 5 were detected in the analysed Amharic population in Ethiopia. Haplogroup A is near the roots of the tree and is only found among males on the African continent. The major haplogroup detected was E. Haplogroup E has its origin in West Africa. Due to immigration haplogroup A, which originally dominated in Ethiopia, has been partly replaced.