Re: "Modal" question please...what determines one?
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In reply to:
"Modal" question please...what determines one?
Nona Anon 7/04/10
There are two terms we use in genetic genealogy, modal and ancestral haplotypes. The modal, as Carol is the most common allele for each marker. An ancestral haplotype is
deduced by testing documented descendants of 2 or more sons of an ancestor until matches are found on all markers. When prefaced by "the", it is the haplotype of the progenitor. It is called by various names, such as patriarchal, progenitor's, signature, founder's, etc.
The modal is a good approximation to the ancestral if the genealogy is unknown. For a haplogroup, we, of course, do not have documented genealogies, so people use the modal as an approximation of the founder's haplotype. In fact, academic papers often use the terms interchangeably.