I have incorporated all of my AncestryDNA ThruLines and MyHeritage Theory of Family Relativity Matches into my Common Ancestor spreadsheet (see Chapter 7 of the free book, Segmentology Fundamentals, at ISOGG). Here is a tabulation of Matches with Common Ancestors (CAs) at all companies:

23andMe                 167

Ancestry           10,435

FTDNA                      239

GEDmatch              170  [I’ve not been able to find these at the other companies]

MyHeritage            261  [this includes 113 from Theory of Family Relativity]

Total                    11,272

Clearly AncestryDNA leads the pack; but note that at the other companies, all the Matches have known shared DNA segments in specific Triangulated Groups (TGs).

Here is a breakdown of Ancestry by category:

ThruLines         8,516  [includes 144 wrong but fixed;  plus 104 which are now gone]

No Tree                   175  [determined by Pro Tools]

Private Tree            27  [determined by Pro Tools]

Unlisted Tree      531  [Note the large number of Matches; not found by ThruLInes]

Found in Tree   1,186 [Just searching]

Total                    10,435

Of the above 10,435 Matches at Ancestry

• There are 1,078 (roughly 10%) that I have tagged as incorrect – and I move those out of the active part of the spreadsheet
• There are 741 Matches with known shared DNA segment in TGs [plus 328 additional Matches for whom I don’t know the CA]
• There are 6,885 from 5xG grandparents or closer (nominal 6Cs) – this reflects the power of ThruLines to find them.
• There are 2,077 Matches from 6xG grandparents; 1,232 Matches from 7xG grandparents; and 181 Matches from more distant Ancestors.

Note – some of the Matches are listed more than once when they are related to me multiple ways; some because they tested at multiple companies.

So what’s the point here?

#1 is that I’m drinking through a fire hose!  Granted that I’m retired and can spend time on genetic genealogy…

#2 is that the data is out there – or rather, the data is here, within the reach of the major DNA companies…

My morning routine includes seeing if there are any new ThruLines at Ancestry or any new Matches at GEDmatch (particularly Ancestry ones). Often I cannot get through that chore before I have to break for other responsibilities.

If I have time, my next task is working down my Ancestry Matches in my Common Ancestor spreadsheet and evaluating their shared Matches with Pro Tools. I didn’t have Pro Tools when I first developed the CA spreadsheet, so there is a lot of catching up to do.

It’s a two pronged approach – enter the Match in my Tree [tagging them: “DNA Match” AND using a special Dot in their profile when I do so] and entering their path to our CA [tagging each person: “DNA Connection”] in my Tree; and then evaluating the shared DNA Matches using Pro Tools [sorted on the Match’s relationship]. I’ve done this through my 4xG grandparents and now have 3,368 Tagged Matches. Still thousands to go, plus all of the new Matches with CAs I find with Pro Tools.  Drinking through a fire hose.

The point is that I’m building a large family of DNA-linked descendants for each Ancestor – easy to review in the CA spreadsheet and in my Tree. AND, as I find more and more Matches with segment information, the consensus builds for Chromosome Mapping info.

[22DK] Segment-ology: Drinking Through a Fire Hose; by Jim Bartlett 20260616

Free: Segmentology Fundamentals eBook available for download at ISOGG/Wiki