Haplogroups / Maternal line
L3
The line that left Africa
The story of this line
Every maternal lineage outside Africa descends from L3. Two of its daughters, M and N, are the only branches that made it out and survived, which means the entire maternal ancestry of everyone in Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas traces back through this one African woman's line. L3 itself is still common in East Africa.
What it traces
L3 sits on the family tree of mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child. Following it back means following your mother, her mother, and so on back, one unbroken thread. It says nothing about the thousands of other ancestors you had at the same depth, which is the single most common misunderstanding about haplogroups.
The route, roughly
- East African Rift about 150 thousand years ago
- Horn of Africa about 70 thousand years ago
- Arabian peninsula about 62 thousand years ago
A route drawn from where the branch arose and where it is found today. It is the path of one thread through your ancestry, not a map of where your family as a whole came from.
Is L3 your haplogroup?
If you have taken a test with 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, TellMeGen or Living DNA, the answer is already sitting in the raw data file they gave you. You do not need another test.
Sequencings reads the file in your browser. It is never uploaded, and you can confirm that in your browser’s network tab while it happens.
Common questions
What is haplogroup L3?
L3 is a branch of the human maternal family tree, traced through mitochondrial DNA, passed from mother to child. Every maternal lineage outside Africa descends from L3. Two of its daughters, M and N, are the only branches that made it out and survived, which means the entire maternal ancestry of everyone in Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas traces back through this one African woman's line. L3 itself is still common in East Africa.
How old is haplogroup L3?
It first appeared about 60,000 to 70,000 years ago, in East Africa. That is a coalescence estimate with a wide margin, not a date.
How do I find out if L3 is my haplogroup?
If you have taken a home DNA test, the answer is already in the raw data file you were given. Sequencings reads that file in your browser and traces both lines without uploading anything.
Does haplogroup L3 tell me about my health?
No. Haplogroups describe one line of descent. They are not used to assess health risk, and anyone who tells you otherwise is overreaching.
Sources
van Oven M, Kayser M. 2009. Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation. Hum Mutat 30(2):E386-E394. http://www.phylotree.org doi:10.1002/humu.20921