Skip to content

Yellacat Ranch

A genealogical journal

Menu
  • Home
  • About
Menu

Category: Genetics

Toba Eruption

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Justin Durand

I don’t follow closely, but one of the truisms of human genetics has been the impact of the Toba Eruption. DNA studies seem to show modern humans are descended from a smaller than expected number of people. We seem to have lost some of the genetic diversity we would be expected to have. One possible…

Read more

Jewish Khazars

Posted on September 18, 2021 by Justin Durand

Are Ashkenazi Jews descended from the Khazars? It’s a hot question. Many people, both Jews and non-Jews, have thought so, but nowadays it has become anti-Semitic to say it. I’m not exactly sure when it became taboo to question scientific research. At one time, many years ago, I thought Arthur Koestler made a slam-dunk case…

Read more

New mtDNA Test

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Justin Durand

I decided recently to have a Full mtDNA test at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). This is something I’ve been putting off. I had the HVR1 test at Oxford Ancestors in 1998, and another at FTDNA in 2007. In between, I also donated a blood sample to BYU. Those results ended up at the now defunct…

Read more

Not Just Scandinavians

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Justin Durand

We’ve had all these little hints over the years, now here’s the confirmation. Viking expansion funneled greater genetic diversity into Scandinavia, according to new study published in the journal Nature. “The ongoing exchange of goods, people and ideas encouraged Vikings to interact with populations across Europe—a trend evidenced by the new survey, which found relatively homogenous genetic information…

Read more

Indians and Polynesians

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Justin Durand

I think we could file this one under “proving the obvious”. Some South American Indians share DNA with some Polynesians. And the connection goes back way before European contact. I was a fan of Thor Heyrdahl when I was a kid. I must’ve read Kon-Tiki a dozen times. That’s the one where he built a…

Read more
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 16
  • Next

Recent Posts

  • Solomon Place Bible
  • Reconstructing the Ancestry of Outlaw Mike Roark: A Preliminary Genealogical Investigation
  • Untangling the Story of Lawrence (Alloway) Howery
  • Grandma Went to Alaska
  • Notable Kin

Recent Comments

  1. The Search for Solomon Place – Yellacat Ranch on Brig. Gen. Solomon Place — A Biographical Sketch
  2. Luce – Yellacat Ranch on Luce family origins
  3. Tony Proctor on Genealogical Standards
  4. Tony Proctor on Online trees
  5. Justin Swanstrom on American Exceptionalism

Categories

  • Astrology
  • Chivalry
  • Clans
  • Complaints
  • Culture
  • Ethnicity
  • Genealogy
  • Genetics
  • Heraldry
  • Historiography
  • History
  • Humor
  • Indians
  • Memories
  • Mormon
  • Names
  • Quotes
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Swan Lore
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Updates
© 2025 Yellacat Ranch | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme