Haplogroup M-P256

Haplogroup M-P256
Possible time of origin	32,000-47,000 years BP (Scheinfeldt 2006)
Possible place of origin	Wallacea (eastern Indonesia) or New Guinea [1]
Ancestor	K2b1
Defining mutations	P256

Haplogroup M, also known as M-P256 and Haplogroup K2b1b (previously K2b1d) is a Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. M-P256 is a descendant haplogroup of Haplogroup K2b1, and is believed to have first appeared between 32,000 and 47,000 years ago (Scheinfeldt 2006).

M-P256 is the most frequently occurring Y-chromosome haplogroup in West Papua and western Papua New Guinea (Kayser 2003). It is also found in neighboring parts of Melanesia, Indonesia and among indigenous Australians.

Both M-P256 and Haplogroup S (B254) are the only primary subclades of K2b1, also known as haplogroup MS.