Male line information: Y-group M

All members of Y-group M can trace their Y-chromosomes back to one man, who is thought to have lived about 10 thousand years ago. This man belonged to a group of hunter-gatherers, who were descendants of the first modern humans to migrate from Africa to Eurasia and may initially have made their home in Southwest Asia and later migrated to Southeast Asia. During the past millennia males belonging to Y-group M spread into Indonesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia, perhaps as members of groups that practiced rice agriculture.

Today, members of this Y-group are almost exclusively found in Melanesia, Micronesia and eastern Indonesia. The highest concentration of Y-group M members is found in Papua New Guinea, where about one third of all males belong to this Y-group.