page_title: Genetic history of North Africa
section_title: E1b1b1b (E-M81); formerly E3b1b, E3b2
hierarchical_section_title: Genetic history of North Africa / Y-chromosome / E1b1b1b (E-M81); formerly E3b1b, E3b2
context_page_description: The genetic history of North Africa has been heavily influenced by geography. The Sahara desert to the south and the Mediterranean Sea to the North were important barriers to gene flow in prehistoric times. However, Africa is connected to Western Asia via the Isthmus of Suez, while at the Straits of Gibraltar North Africa and Europe are separated by only 15 km.
  Although North Africa has experienced gene flows from the surrounding regions, it has also experienced long periods of genetic isolation, allowing a distinctive genetic "Berber marker" to evolve in the native Berber people. Today, this genetic "Berber marker" is consistently found in the regions and populations that still predominantly speak the Berber languages, as well as in the Canary Islands which was inhabited by native Berbers and by their descendants to this day. A recent genetic study showed that modern North Africans are genetically similar to Paleolithic North Africans.
  Current scientific debate is concerned with determining the relative contributions of different periods of gene flow to the current gene pool of North Africans.
context_section_description: E1b1b1b (E-M81) is the most common Y chromosome haplogroup in North Africa, dominated by its sub-clade E-M183. It is thought to have originated in North Africa 5,600 years ago. The parent clade, E1b1b, originated in East Africa. Colloquially referred to as the Berber marker or Maghrebi marker for its prevalence among Mozabite, Middle Atlas, and other Berber-speaking groups, E-M81 is also quite common among North African groups. It reaches frequencies of up to 90 percent in some parts of the Maghreb. This includes the Saharawish for whose men Bosch et al. (2001) reports that approximately 76 percent are M81+.
  This haplogroup is also found at high levels in Canary islands and in Sicily, parts of the Andalusia and Southern Portugal as well as much lower levels in South Italy and Provence.  In Andalusia, it is generally more common than E1b1b1a (E-M78), unlike the rest of Europe, and as a result E-M81 is found in parts of Latin America, among Hispanic and Italian-origin men in USA. As an exceptional case in Europe, this sub-clade of E1b1b1 has also been observed at 40 percent the Pasiegos from Cantabria.
  In smaller numbers, E-M81 men can be found in Sudan, Cyprus and among Sephardic Jews.
  There are two recognized sub-clades, although one is much more common than the other.
  Sub clades of E1b1b1b (E-M81):
  E1b1b1b1 (E-M107). Underhill et al. (2000) found one example in Mali.
  E1b1b1b2 (E-M183). Individuals with the defining marker for this clade, M81, also test positive, in tests so far, for M183. As of October 23, 2008, the SNP M165 is currently considered to define a subclade, "E1b1b1b2a".
caption: Berber man, Morocco
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