Genelach Dáil Cuinn Project™ Forum

I have asked at SOA about updates to the Big Y tree. My results FTA42553 came in April 1 and it's still bouncing around. It's a private variant at FTDNA but not on the chromosome browser; FTDNA Big Y Block tree still has me and Kion under BY20594 even though he's negative for the variant. The Big Tree has 3 of us (Rowley, McCormick, Kion) under BY20594 even though the other 2 are negative for it with me positive; it's an unknown haplogroup along with FT64614@FTDNA (2019) which hasn't been placed in a haplogroup for 2 years. Probably not so important overall, just curious.

I've also been digging around with the 6 - BY20593 and the McDonagh/McDermott/Cland Maíl Ruanada conundrum for the fun of it, mostly geographically since I'm not great with the genealogies. Hope I don't bore you too much with my jibberish.

Thanks for all you do, and all the advice!

Mike,

This is a learning experience for everyone since we are on the cutting edge of knowledge, so speculation is going to be rife.

We source the data for the DCG Cladogram from public sources such as public FTDNA project spreadsheets, the public Y-Haplotree, and The Big Tree. The FTDNA Block Tree is not public, so nothing from there can be used. Here is the link for the R1b-FGC5939 clade on The Big Tree. As you can see, both Kion #FTDNA-566536 and McCormick #FTDNA-B432078 are in the R1b-BY20594 clade with you. I have found Alex's analysis to be more thorough than FTDNA's; oftentimes Alex will call a mutation immediately that FTDNA might add up to 2 years later.

Mutations in grey on The Big Tree indicate uncertainty as to location on the Y-Haplotree. Mutations in solid black are definitely shared mutations. So Kion #FTDNA-566536 and McCormick #FTDNA-B432078 are definitely positive for BY20594, along with yourself. The Big Tree typically has less test results to work with since not everyone uploads their data, unfortunately. So FTDNA's Y-Haplotree is typically more detailed. The DCG Cladogram is an integration of all available sources, as I indicated above, so it can be slightly different than any single source.

Men highlighted in yellow on the DCG Cladogram indicates they do not have NGS or WGS test results available. Clicking on a man's name on The Big Tree will open their unique variants data page, on which you can see which NGS or WGS test results they uploaded. So, for example, Kion #FTDNA-566536 has only uploaded BigY 500 test results, so his unique mutations are not going to be as nearly complete as yours and McCormick #FTDNA-B432078's, who have uploaded BigY 700 test results.

And on The Big Tree, McCormick #FTDNA-B432078 only has a very weak indication for FT441685, and as he is the only data set for that on The Big Tree, it does not show up. But with its larger data set, FTDNA does include him in the R1b-FT441685 clade. So, there is a bit of a juggling act to coordinate the multiple data sources; which can change with new data too.

Anyway, I hope that explains the differences you see among FTDNA's Block Tree, The Big Tree, and the DCG Cladogram.

Thanks!
That helps me understand much better!