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Time Tree Guide

The Time Tree provides a visual representation of the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA) for SNPs on the Y-DNA Haplotree of humankind.

 

Accessing the Time Tree

You can access the Time Tree from the public FamilyTreeDNA Discover™ page, from your dashboard, and from the top navigation bar.

To access from the Discover™ page:

  1. Go to https://discover.familytreedna.com/.
  2. Enter a SNP or Haplogroup, and click the Search button.

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  1. If applicable, fill out your contact information, and select the check box to agree to the FamilyTreeDNA Privacy Policy & Terms of Service.
  2. Click the  View My Report button.
    You are directed to the Haplogroup Story page. 
  3. On the left sidebar menu, click Time Tree .

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To access from your dashboard:

  1. Sign in to your kit.
  2. On your dashboard, locate the Y-DNA Results & Tools or Additional Tests & Tools widget. 
  3. In any of these widgets, click the  Discover™ Haplogroup Reports button.

Note: This button is located in three different sections on the dashboard. However,  whether or not you can view all three sections depends on the level of testing you have completed. If you have not taken a Y-DNA test, you will only see the button in the Additional Tests & Tools widget. 

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  1. On the left sidebar menu, click Time Tree.

To access from your navigation bar:

Note: You can only access from the navigation bar if you have taken a Y-DNA test.

  1. Sign in to your kit.
  2. On the navigation bar at the top of the page, go to:

    Results & Tools > Y-DNA > Discover™ Haplogroup Reports.

    or

    Results & Tools > Big Y > Discover™ Haplogroup Reports.

Note: This tool can be accessed in both sections. However, your access to these sections depends on the level of Y-DNA testing you have completed. 

  1. On the left sidebar menu, click Time Tree.

Time Tree Quick Overview

The Time Tree provides a chart of your haplogroup stretching from ancient times to modern day, including related branches that descend from a common ancestral haplogroup. You can hover your cursor over any icon in the graph to view a brief summary of that icon's significance. Additionally, you can click  on an  icon to reformat the graph so that the selected icon is the starting point. This allows you to see a more detailed view of a particular sub branch.

Display Options

To view the display options, click the Display Options button located in the upper-left corner of the graph.   You can click Reset to revert the tree back to the first selected SNP.

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The following options are available: 

  • Ancient Connections - These are haplogroups found in archaeological remains or derived from ancient SNPs found in modern-day test takers.
  • Present-day Testers - This provides the self-reported country of origin for test takers in our database. 

Note: This option is only available for SNPs with fewer than 1,000 downstream branches.

  • Notable Connections - These are famous historical figures and notable modern-day individuals. Their haplogroups have been determined by traditional paper trail genealogy or archeological remains.
  • Confidence Bars - This displays a dotted line representing the possible time range for the SNP. The date given for the SNP is the mean of this range.
  • Time Tree Height - This adjusts the height of the graph.
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