Figure 1.

Partial phylogenetic tree demonstrating approximate relationships between mitochondrial DNA haplogroups examined in the current investigation. Haplogroups, which are groups of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor, are defined by specific single nucleotide polymorphisms that have emerged in the genome over millennia. Because mitochondrial haplogroups have a well-defined phylogeny (11), they can be used to understand variations in mitochondrial genetics within populations.