Genetic Families can tell us about ancestry. Las familias genéticas nos permiten conocer el origen de nuestros antepasados
The genetic changes found in Y chromosome DNA can be organized into genetic families. These genetic families are known as haplogroups. Like members of any family, there are some differences between family members but there is enough similarity that they are recognized as belonging to the same family. Members of a haplogroup (genetic family) can vary slightly, and we call these different members haplotypes. Haplotypes are related to each other and belong to the same haplogroup, in a similar way that siblings or cousins are different yet are related and part of the same family. Y chromosome haplogroups can be traced to broad geographic regions of the world. The map below shows where Y chromosome haplogroups (genetic family) are most commonly found. When geneticists identify an individual’s haplogroup, it shows which geographic region that individual can trace their paternal ancestry to.
Los cambios genéticos encontrados en ADN del cromosoma Y se pueden organizar en familias genéticas. Estas familias genéticas se conocen como haplogrupos. Al igual que pasa entre los miembros de una familia, existen algunas diferencias entre ellos pero hay suficientes parecidos que permiten identificarlos como miembros de una misma familia. Los miembros de un mismo haplogrupo pueden presentar ligeras diferencias, a las que llamamos haplotipos. Los haplotipos están relacionados entre ellos y pertenecen a un mismo haplogrupo (al igual que existen las relaciones de hermanos o primos en una misma familia). En el mapa se pueden apreciar que existen muchos haplotipos (miembros de la familia) que pertenecen a un mismo haplogrupo (la familia), tanto para el ADN procedente del cromosoma Y (‘familia paterna’). El origen de los haplogrupos del ADN del cromosoma Y (de nuestros ancestros por parte de padre, respectivamente), se pueden relacionar con grandes zonas geográficas. Cuando los genetistas identifican el haplogrupo de un individuo, esto nos indica la zona geográfica de la que proceden sus antepasados.
![](https://gabslab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/YChromosome_globalMap.png)
Y chromosome Haplogroups commonly found in Puerto Rican Afrodescendentes:
Haplogroup I originated about 15,000 years ago in Europe. A subclade of I, I1a is common in Scandinavia.
If you belong to this haplogroup this means that you have European ancestry along your paternal lineage.
Haplogroup Q originated in Central Asia and migrated through northern Eurasia then into the Americas.
Haplogroup Q-M3 originated around 21,000 years ago and is associated with indigenous populations in the throughout the Americas.
If you belong to this haplogroup this means that you have ancestry that is Indigenous to the Americas along your paternal lineage.
Haplogroup R1 originated about 4,000-8,000 years ago in western Asia then spread into western Europe.
A subclade of R1, R1b, is a very common haplogroup in western Europe.
R1b (specifically R1b1a1) has also been observed in other studies of Puerto Rican populations.
If you belong to this haplogroup this means that you have European ancestry along your paternal lineage.
Haplogroup J1 originated about 20,000 years ago within the Middle East and is associated with the spread of farming.
A subclade of J1, J1a2, has been detected in the Galicia region of Spain and in North Africa and is estimated to be about 9500 years old.
If you belong to this haplogroup this means that you have European ancestry along your paternal lineage.
Haplogroup E3a originated about 39,000 years ago in western or central Africa and was involved in the Bantu-speakers migration throughout Africa.
Haplogroup E3a (also called E1b1a) is one of the more commonly found haplogroups across Sub-Saharan Africa.
This haplogroup was found among the people related to those that migrated to southern and eastern Africa from Western and Central Africa.
If you belong to this haplogroup this means that you have African ancestry along your paternal lineage.