Top 100 MRCA Scoreboard

* Identify each Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) between two of your DNA matches or between a DNA match and yourself. The MRCA is the person or couple through whom two DNA matches (or you and a DNA match) are related.

Examples:

- In a parent/child relationship, the parent is the MRCA as the DNA to the child came through the parent. This is the easiest MRCA to identify.

- For full siblings, the MRCAs are the parents. For half-siblings, the MRCA is the parent from whom all half-siblings are descending.

- For 1st cousins, the MRCA is the grandparent couple from whom both cousins are descending. For 2nd cousins, it's the great-grandparent couple, and so on.

When we identify MRCAs for DNA matches in a triangulated group (TG), we know that the DNA has been inherited through the MRCA (single person), or for MRCA couples, we know that the DNA has come through one of them. As we add more MRCAs, we're collecting more evidence that the DNA was indeed inherited along this path and not any other possible path (especially important in endogamous relationships).

The "Common Ancestor Points" are calculated as follows:

For each DNA kit under your user profile, we identify all TGs with an assigned MRCA and give one point for each.

Example:

You have 2 DNA kits under your user profile, and they have 17 TGs with 28 MRCAs assigned to them. The CAP will be 28 in this case.

Remember, if both DNA kits are in a TG together, we won't double count this TG. Also, there are more MRCAs than TGs as we haven't identified how all MRCAs in the TGs are related to each other.

Lastly, it's crucial to research the ancestors of ALL DNA matches in a TG! Every DNA match in a TG has inherited the same ancestral piece of DNA from an unknown common ancestor. By identifying MRCAs, we're collecting evidence as to who this common ancestor might have been.