Could You Be My Cousin?

Native American family trees appear to have one of six women in them. 95 percent of all Native Americans have been traced back to the DNA of these women who lived between 18,000 and 21,000 years ago.

The findings show that the six maternal lineages can be found in the mitochondrial DNA that is passed on only by the mother. This DNA connects generation after generation by mothers. The DNA findings are totally from the Americas and not from Asia. The footprints of DNA signatures have not been found in that area. The women are thought to have lived in Beringia. Beringia is now underwater but at one time stretched from Asia to North America.

Connie Mulligan of the University of Florida, an anthropologist who studies the colonization of the Americas but didn't participate in the new work, said it's not surprising to trace the mitochondrial DNA to six women. "It's an OK number to start with right now," but further work may change it slightly, she said.

The findings raise more questions as to where the women lived for sure and how many people wandered away from Beringia to America. The report was published this week in the journal PLoS One.