Paper 5.11. Haplogroups L and T

Abstract: LR-M9 and its downstream mutations have been difficult to position within the Y-chromosome phylogeny.  Data for T-M184 must be gleaned from pre-2011 studies that report data for K2-M70 and T-M70.  L-M20 and T-M184, when viewed as subclades of a new LT-L298 mutation, become an important component in understanding the correlation between genetic and linguistic diversity.  The distribution pattern of LT-L298 is strikingly similar to J-M304.   Moreover, like J1-M267 and J2-M172, L-M20 and T-M184 probably co-evolved in Southwest Asia co-expanded into adjacent regions during the Neolithic.  It should be noted that the evolution of L-M20 in South Asia, as suggested by some studies, is inconsistent with the genetic and archaeological evidence.  Rather, the data suggest that the Neolithic farmers of Southwest Asia must have been a population in Anatolia having Haplogroups E-M96, G-M201, J-M304 and LT-L298.  When these farmers expanded out of Anatolia, their genes and languages followed.  The linguistic relics of this expansion include Afro-Asiatic, Indo-European and Dravidian languages. As such, the early farming dispersal hypothesis provides a robust model of prehistoric language dispersals. From a big picture genetic perspective, LT-L298, G-M201, E-M96 played important supporting roles in the Southwest Asian Neolithic expansion, whereas the main actor was clearly J-M304.