I will highlight a few pieces of information. First, a distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroups in Russian groups:
- N1c-Tat is a general feature of the Russians, but N1b-P43 is only really found at any significant frequency in the northern groups.
- A strong contrast of E-M78 between central (present) and northern (absent) groups, consistent with a late introduction of this haplogroup in easternmost Europe.
- South-Central-North decreasing frequency of R1a; now, it's not clear how R1a came to be in Russians: some of it may be legacy of its initial entry into Europe from the east, other could be of historical import, and may have even arrived during the Slavic expansion from Central Europe. The pattern probably is the reverse of the high frequency of N1, indicating increasing importance of Finno-Ugric substratum in the north.
- Fairly interesting that of the two likely "Balkan" haplogroups E-M78 and I-P37, the former is modal in central region, the latter in southern one. The absence of both in "deep Asia" suggests a late introduction, as mentioned before, but when?
Also of interest a haplotype analysis within R1a1a-M198:
My most immediate observation is the set of mainly Indian highly divergent haplotypes on the left. There has been (well-deserved) excitement about recent Y-SNP progress within this haplogroup, but we should not neglect the occurrence of outliers/relics in our reconstruction of a haplogroup's history. I'd love to see those few Indian haplotypes SNP-tested using the currently available SNPs, or even used to develop new SNPs for this important Eurasian haplogroup.