Haplogroup L4 (mtDNA)


Haplogroup L4 is a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup. It is a small maternal clade primarily restricted to Africa.
L4 is important in East Africa and Horn of Africa. The highest frequencies are in Tanzania among the Hadza at 60-83% and Sandawe at 48%.
It has two branches, L4a and L4b. Subgroup L4a was formerly called L7 and considered a separate subclade of L3'4'7. It has been recognized as a subclade of L4, with L3 as its outgroup by Behar et al..
The parent clade L3'4 is to have emerged at 106-66 kya.
L4 is not much later than this, estimated at 87 kya by Fernandes et al..

Phylogeny

The following phylogeny is based on van Oven and Kayser.