The following has just appeared on the R1b-U106 Group forum:
“2020 was an awful year in so many ways, but it was an unprecedented year for human paternal phylogenetic tree reconstruction. The FTDNA Haplotree or Great Tree of Mankind now includes:
– 37,534 branches with 12,696 added since 2019 – 51% growth!
defined by
– 349,097 SNPs with 131,820 added since 2019 – 61% growth!
In just one year, 207,536 SNPs were discovered and assigned FT SNP names. These SNPs will help define new branches and refine existing ones in the future.
The tree is constructed based on high coverage chromosome Y sequences from:
– More than 52,500 Big Y results
– Almost 4,000 NGS results from present-day anonymous men that participated in academic studies
Plus an additional 3,000 ancient DNA results from archaeological remains, of mixed quality and Y chromosome coverage.”
We have made some advances within Warburton DNA Project, particularly with a BigY-700 result from the Notts and Ashley Group which refined its branch of the Great Tree of Mankind to show that the Western Australia and Ashley and Morley clans are more closely related to each other than to the Nottinghamshire clan.
However there have been no new BigY-700 tests in the recent Thanksgiving and Christmas sale period.
In addition to Notts and Ashley Group we have a good picture of the Lancashire Group, and a reasonable view of the Cheshire Group, though there are only 3 BigY results. There is scope for further refinement particularly amongst the clans descended from William of Partington (alive in 1320). It would also be nice to position the Houghton clan more accurately in relation to the Hale Barns and Weaverham clans.
Otherwise none of the clans outside the above groups have a position on the Great Tree of Mankind, and so cannot know the deep history of their Y-chromosome. Also they cannot see if they have close non-Warburton neighbours on the tree that might indicate an origin prior to their Y-chromosome’s association with the Warburton name, in the way Cheshire Group’s Dutton origins are demonstrated.
I’m sure many of you would find such information an enrichment of your knowledge of your ancestors. I know the BigY test is expensive, but the information it produces will apply to your whole clan, so there must be opportunities for shared expense, similar to the way the most recent Notts and Ashley result was shared 4 ways.
Maybe by the time of the next sale we can identify some new testing opportunities.
