A recent bottleneck of Y chromosome diversity coincides with a global change in culture

Citation

Karmin et al. (2015). A recent bottleneck of Y chromosome diversity coincides with a global change in culture. Genome Research.

Author names and publication information are transcribed from the source; some author lists are abbreviated.

Editorial assessment & provenance

Editorial assessment

Neutral; evidence supports

Source collection

Peer Reviewed Literature

Record type

Paper

Publication status

Not independently checked

Author affiliation

Unaffiliated with YDB/CRG teams (source classification)

Source location

Peer Reviewed Literature, row 117

Snapshot imported

2026-10-08

Source notes

This paper shows a significant Y-chromosome bottleneck occurred on every continent just before the YD onset, which would have translated to roughly 14 females for every male alive, indicating some kind of significant event happened. The authors invoke independent causes on each continent rather than a global catastrophe. Also, their dating for the event depends on mutation rates and is likely inaccurate. The only global event in close proximity to the bottleneck is the YD impact event and it should therefore be considered as the prime suspect.

Editorial assessments are those of the bibliography’s curators. The authors’ conclusions should be read in the original publication. Corrections, retractions, and review status have not been comprehensively audited.