[00] Segmentology: Outline of Segmentology (14 Apr 2015 to 19 Dec 2021)
[01] Introduction and Disclaimer – I became an engineer in 1966; a Naval Officer in 1967; a genealogist in 1974; a registered Professional Engineer in 1980; a genetic genealogist (when I started a Y-DNA surname project) in 2002. I have bought original DNA kits at FTDNA (Y-111 and Big-Y, SNPs, FMS, atDNA), 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Genographic, Genos (exome), LivingDNA and MyHeritage; and uploaded to Y-Search, mitoSearch, NIH, GEDmatch, and DNA.Land. I present on genealogy and DNA to genealogy groups and conferences. I have no contract, compensation, or allegiance with any company. I am an unpaid volunteer at GEDmatch; a Surname Project Admin at FTDNA; and a long-time subscriber/researcher at Ancestry and FamilySearch. Statements/opinions are my own.
Segment-ology Table of Contents
[01A] Getting Started with Autosomal DNA Part I (22 Nov 2015)
[02] What is a segment? – Ancestral (true) Segments vs Shared (computer) Segments (7 May 2015)
[03] Measuring Segments – bp (or Mbp); cM; SNP (13 May 2015)
[03A] Fuzzy Data, Fuzzy Segments – No Worry (30 May 2015)
[05] Segments
[05A] Segments: Bottom-Up (24 May 2015)
[05B] Segments: Top-Down (1 Jun 2015)
[05C] CA and MRCA (2 Jan 2016)
[05D] Crossovers by Generation (2 Feb 2016)
[05E] Anatomy of a TG (5 Feb 2016)
[06] Segment size vs cousinship – Mathematical averages vs Range (Blaine’s data)
[06B] Segment Size vs Cousinship –Chart Needed –Estimated Curves (7 Nov 2015)
[06C] In Defense of Small Segments (21 Jan 2020) (Edit 2 Feb 2020)
[06D] Distribution of Cousins (9 Dec 2021) (Update/edit 19 Dec 2021)
[06Z] VUCA DNA (24 Aug 2015)
[07A] Ancestors – The Porcupine Chart (Biological vs Genetic Ancestors) (7 Aug 2015)
[07C] Proof of Sticky Segments (16 Nov 2015)
[08] Triangulation Concepts
[08A] Your TGs are Pretty Unique! CONCEPT (7 Sep 2017)
[08B] The MRCA Knothole! CONCEPT (9 Sep 2017)
[08C] MRCA Knothole Guidelines. CONCEPT (10 Sep 2017)
[08D] Using a Group Common Ancestor. CONCEPT (20 Jun 2020)
[09] Benefits of Triangulation (9 May 2015)
[10] How To Triangulate: Collect, Arrange, Compare/Triangulate (11 May 2015)
[10A] Triangulating Your Genome (29 Dec 2020)
[10C] Triangulation: CA vs MRCA – diagrams [see [05C]
[10D] Using MyHeritage Labels for Triangulation (15 Dec 2021)
[11] Why Triangulation works
[11A] Does Triangulation Always Work? (10 May 2015)
[11B] Does Triangulation Work? (19 Oct 2015)
[11D] Are Overlapping Segments Triangulated? (15 Apr 2020]
[13A] Small Segments and Triangulation (30 Sep 2015)
[15] How Triangulated Groups (TGs) play out in practice
[15A] Understanding and using TGs (18 Sep 2016)
[15B] The Attributes of a TG (19 Sep 2016)
[15G] A Targeted Process at AncestryDNA (20 Oct 2016)
[15H] Distribution of TGs – Part 1 ( 1 Oct 2021)
[15I] Distribution of TGs – Part 2 (5 Oct 2021)
[15J] Distribution of TGs – Part 3 (8 Oct 2021)
[15K] Distribution of TGs Part 4 (Spreadsheet) (13 Oct 2021)
[16] Segment analysis
[16D] Endogamy PART I – Shared DNA (2 Dec 2015)
[16E] Endogamy PART II – One Segment from One Ancestor (5 Jan 2016)
[18] Pile-ups: Small segments; TG segments (7 Oct 2015)
[19] Clustering
[19A] Think Icicles! (30 Oct 2018)
[19B] Icicles – Part 2 and Match Clustering (8 Jan 2019)
[19C] Shared Clustering – A Great Tool! (29 Nov 2019)
[19D] Walking the Clusters Back (1 Dec 2019)
[19E] Walking The Clusters Back II (5 Dec 2019)
[19F] Walking the Clusters Back III [14 Dec 2019)
[19G] A Unified Theory of Genetic Genealogy (16 Dec 2019)
[19H] Let the Matches Tell Us the Cluster Common Ancestor (20 Jun 2020)
[19I] Easy Manual Clustering at AncestryDNA (1 Jul 2020)
[19J] Use Clusters! (5 Jul 2020)
[19K] Breaking Down Brick Walls (3 Feb 2021)
[See also these TIDBITS]
[22Z] Match Clusters – Chicken or Egg? TIDBIT (11 Feb 2019)
[22AA] Confessions of a Match Clusterer TIDBIT (14 Feb 2019)
[22AB] Walking the Clusters Back TIDBIT (14 Feb 2019)
[22AC] Match Cluster Report 1 (14 Feb 2019)
[22AD] D I Y Clustering TIDBIT (18 Feb 2019)
[22AE] Clusters Link to TGs and an Apology TIDBIT (22 Feb 2019)
[22AF] Clustering Programs TIDBIT (4 Apr 2019)
[22AP] Extending the MRCA of a TG through Clusters TIDBIT (18 Nov 2019)
[22AQ] Grouping Matches – Try It! TIDBIT (28 Nov 2019)
[22AT] Clusters at Brick Walls TIDBIT (7 May 2020)
[22AU] Using Ethnicity to Identify a Cluster TIDBIT (12 Jun 2020)
[21] Misc
[21A] Why Upload to GEDmatch or FTDNA? (11 Jun 2015)
[21B] Getting Started with GEDmatch (19 Sep 2017)
[[see also [22T] First Time at GEDmatch TIDBIT (1 May 2018)]]
[22] Segmentology TIDBITs
[22A] Crossover and Segment Formation TIDBIT (2 Jan 2017)
[22B] Number of Matches on a Segment (or TG) TIDBIT (2 Jan 2017)
[22C] Roughly Right is OK for Genealogy TIDBIT (2 Jan 2017)
[22D] Only One Comparison Needed to Add a Segment to a TG TIDBIT (2 Jan 2017)
[22E] Save the Clues TIDBIT (2 Jan 2017)
[22F] Walking the Ancestor Back TIDBIT (4 Jan 2017)
[22G] Uploading to GEDmatch TIDBIT (19 Jan 2017)
[22H] One Segment at a Time TIDBIT (18 Feb 2017)
[22I] Format for AncestryDNA Notes TIDBIT (7 May 2017)
[22K] Amount of DNA vs Number of Matches TIDBIT (17 May 2017)
[22L] Using a Child to Determine the Side TIDBIT (12 Jul 2017)
[22M] Triangulation at 23andMe TIDBIT (20 Jul 2017)
[22N] A Triangulation Overview TIDBIT (28 Jul 2017)
[22P] Using AncestryDNA Notes TIDBIT (9 Sep 2017)
[22Q] Make a Resolution to Contact Your Matches TIDBIT (7 Jan 2018)
[22R] When a Plan Comes Together TIDBIT [17 Mar 2018)
[22S] Contact Your Match Soon TIDBIT (15 Apr 2018)
[22T] First Time at GEDmatch TIDBIT (1 May 2018)
[22U] Confusion about Base Pairs TIDBIT [2 May 2018)
[22V] AncestryDNA Search on Notes TIDBIT (1 Jun 2018)
[22W] Shorthand ID for Common Ancestors TIDBIT (2 Feb 2019)
[22X] Shorthand ID for Triangulated Groups TIDBIT (2 Feb 2019)
[22Y] The Fundamental Building Blocks of Genetic Genealogy TIDBIT (3 Feb 2019)
[22Z] Match Clusters – Chicken or Egg? TIDBIT (11 Feb 2019)
[22AA] Confessions of a Match Clusterer TIDBIT (14 Feb 2019)
[22AB] Walking the Clusters Back TIDBIT (14 Feb 2019)
[22AC] Match Cluster Report 1 (14 Feb 2019)
[22AD] D I Y Clustering TIDBIT (18 Feb 2019)
[22AE] Clusters Link to TGs and an Apology TIDBIT (22 Feb 2019)
[22AF] Clustering Programs TIDBIT (4 Apr 2019)
[22AG] ThruLines Finds Your Common Ancestors TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AH] Help ThruLines by Adding Children and Grandchildren TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AI] ThruLines Has Xray Vision TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AJ] ThruLines Helps with Y-DNA and mtDNA TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AK] A Few ThruLines Are False, and Some Are Misleading (29 Jul 2019)
[22AL] Add ThruLines Info Into Match Notes TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AM] Use Match Notes from ThruLines to Identify Clusters (29 Jul 2019)
[22AN ] ThruLines and Clusters and Snowballs (29 Jul 2019) *
[22AO] How Does ThruLines Work TIDBIT (1 Aug 2019)
[22AP] Extending the MRCA of a TG through Clusters TIDBIT (18 Nov 2019)
[22AQ] Grouping Matches – Try It! TIDBIT (28 Nov 2019)
[22AR] AncestryDNA ThruLines Missing Out TIDBIT (26 Mar 2020)
[22AS] Download Your AncestryDNA Matches in 10 Minutes! (9 Apr 2020; Edit 8 Aug 2020)
[22AT] Clusters at Brick Walls TIDBIT (7 May 2020)
[22AU] Using Ethnicity to Identify a Cluster TIDBIT (12 Jun 2020)
[22AV] Find AncestryDNA Matches with Common Ancestors TIDBIT [8 Aug 2020)
[22AW] Percent DNA vs Percent Matches TIDBIT (4 May 2021)
[22AX] Search on a Surname TIDBIT (9 Jun 2021)
[22AY] Extending a Match’s Ancestry TIDBIT (13 Jun 2021)
[22AZ] Search on a Surname – Using It Part II TIDBIT (25 Jun 2021)
[22BA] Two Tricks TIDBIT (9 Jul 2021)
[22BB] Do You Have a Suspicious Branch in Your Tree? TIDBIT (28 Sep 2021)
[22BC] What Do You Get from a DNA Test TIDBIT [29 Sep 2021)
[22BD] Bad Segments – Good Segments TIDBIT (30 Sep 2021)
[23] Ancestors
[23-37P] Breaking Thorough a Brick Wall (5 Aug 2019)
[30] Bio-Ancestors
[30A] Bio-Ancestors – Testing a Line (20 Apr 2021)
[35] Tools
[35A] ThruLines at AncestryDNA
[See also these TIDBITS]
[22AG] ThruLines Finds Your Common Ancestors TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AH] Help ThruLines by Adding Children and Grandchildren TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AI] ThruLines Has Xray Vision TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AJ] ThruLines Helps with Y-DNA and mtDNA TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AK] A Few ThruLines Are False, and Some Are Misleading (29 Jul 2019)
[22AL] Add ThruLines Info Into Match Notes TIDBIT (29 Jul 2019)
[22AM] Use Match Notes from ThruLines to Identify Clusters (29 Jul 2019)
[22AN ] ThruLines and Clusters and Snowballs (29 Jul 2019) *
[22AO] How Does ThruLines Work TIDBIT (1 Aug 2019)
[22AP] Extending the MRCA of a TG through Clusters TIDBIT (18 Nov 2019)
[22AR] AncestryDNA ThruLines Missing Out TIDBIT (26 Mar 2020)
[35B] Genetic Genealogy Spreadsheets (7 Dec 2021)
[35BA] Ancestors
[35BB] Segments [and TGs[
[35BC] Common Ancestors
[35BD] Walk The Clusters Back
[35BE] TG SUMMARY
[99A] Anatomy of an IBS segment by Ann Turner (2 Oct 2015)
[99B] Advanced Genetic Genealogy Book (6 Apr 2019)
This is great! I just finished NGS’s online Genetic Genealogy course and needed more detail. They included your website in their list of Recommended Reading — my thanks to the course designer for directing me to you, and my thanks to you for a great series of blog posts!
LikeLike
Kay, Thanks for the kind, encouraging words. I’m ready to post again… Jim
LikeLike
Is spreadsheets still on your to-do list, or have you found a better way to organize your data?
LikeLike
Actually it is, and I’m actively working on a series of posts. This is not an easy item, and there is a lot to cover
LikeLike
Jim, a thousand thanks for your work on this, which I was introduced to through a superb course by Maurice Gleeson. Thanks also for being the inspiration for GedMatch.com’s Tier 1 Utility “Triangulation Groups – Beta.” After getting hooked on its great functionality, I note that it has been down for the last 5 days or so. Are you (or they) working on it?
LikeLike
Maureen, Thanks for your kind words. The Tiangulation programs at GEDmatch are a great way to start your TGs and mapping. But after that start, I just add new Match-segments to my spreadsheet and check them against overlapping segments which are already there. I am not working on the software, maybe the tech guys are. Jim
LikeLike
Jim, I know you have ‘spreadsheets’ on your to-do list, but do you have yours or a dummy version of it (stripped of your own data) available anywhere for a peek at? I am in the early stages of the process and I can see it will take me a couple years to re-invent my own wheel. I’m particularly interested in how you organized your family tree info to facilitate searching for MRCA with matches, and organizing data for triangulating.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am so thankful for all of your explanations on all of your blogs I am learning so much. I am so grateful to you for sharing your expertise with all of us because it becomes so frustrating many many thanks for all of your hard work and sharing of your expertise
LikeLike
Hi … I just came across this site. I’m looking forward to all of the above topics. Thank you!
LikeLike