Figure caption of Age of branch based on STR-values

Each person that is measured with at least 67 markers gives one element in the diagram with the following characteristics:

• A genetic STR distance to the modal of the group (# of unequal markers to MRCA).
• A country of origin (as reported by the person).

• horizontal axis: genetic distance (GD) in # of unequal markers to MRCA (marker mutations since the most recent common ancestor.
• vertical axis: number of people with that GD (Frequency).
• colour: the number of people are grouped in countries of origin as reported in the Data section. For the large Ashkenazi groups one can see in general a large group with orange (Eastern Europe) and a small group with red (Germanic countries) near the expected number of marker mutations. Further away (with typical Genetic Distance above 10) one can see people with a larger GD. These people have a shared ancestor that is (on average) longer ago.
• the line represents the distribution of expected GD according to the best estimated nr. of generations.
• maximum steps: this is the GD-value that is used as a condition to consider the person in the Jewish group or outside the Jewish group. If the GD is less, the person is considered a very likely member of the group and the data is used in the best-fit calculation.
• nr. of persons: this is the number of persons that follow the requirements (67 markers measured, public reported and within the maximum of steps).
• nr. of generations: this is the number of generations for the best fit.
• tmrca: this is the 95%-range of the possible time to the most recent common ancestor of the group as described in the Data page. The time is expressed in CE (Common Era).