Female line information: mitogroup M*

All members of mitogroup M* can trace their mitochondrial DNA to one woman who is thought to have lived about 70 thousand years ago, probably somewhere in Africa. This woman belonged to a group that took part in one of the first migrations of modern humans out of Africa. As it happens, most of the other mitogroups found in populations of Asian ancestry are also descended from this woman. However, mitogroup M* represents the collection of all the female lines of descent from this woman that do not lead to the other mitogroups (such as C, D, Z and M7).

Today, members of mitogroup M* are quite common in populations of Asian ancestry. About 40 to 50 percent of people in the populations of Pakistan and India belong to mitogroup M*, as do about 20 to 30 percent of East Asians and over 60 percent of people from Melanesia and other parts of Oceania. Mitogroup M* is present but rare (less than 1 percent) in populations of European and African ancestry.