An mtDNA haplogroup is a branch of the human maternal family tree, defined by a shared set of small inherited changes in your mitochondrial DNA. Everyone alive traces back to a single maternal ancestor — often called Mitochondrial Eve — who lived in Africa about 175,000 years ago (published estimates put her roughly between 155,000 and 200,000 years ago), and the tree has branched thousands of times since. Your haplogroup is the deepest, most specific branch we can confidently place you on — like H1a (widespread across Europe), U5b1 (one of Europe’s oldest maternal lineages), or D4 (common across Northeast Asia and the Americas).
What’s an mtDNA haplogroup, exactly?
What an mtDNA haplogroup is — a branch of the maternal family tree defined by inherited mitochondrial DNA changes.