Native Americans share a recent common ancestor with Altaians

This article used Y-chromosome and mtDNA variation to determine that all Native Americans had a single recent ancestor shared with indigenous Altaians. Genetic variation was characterized in northern and southern populations of the Altai region (south-central Russia bordering on Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan). The bulk of the work in this paper attempted to quantify genetic structuring in the Altai region. This was contrasted to known Native American mtDNA and Y chromosome haplogroups. They did not find exact mtDNA matches between the two groups, but conclude that the two are closely related sister group sharing a recent common paternal ancestor.