(P-M45) and its primary subclades Q and R now make up "the most frequent haplogroup in Europe, the Americas, and Central Asia and South Asia". According to Karafet et al., the estimated dates for the branching of K, K2, K2b and P point to a "rapid diversification" within K2 "that likely occurred in Southeast Asia", with subsequent "westward expansions" of P*, P1, Q and R. However, these authors also stipulated that haplogroup K might have arisen in Euraisa and later went extinct there, and that either origin hyoothesis is "equally parsimonious". Structure A direct descendant of Haplogroup K, K2 is a sibling of basal/paragroup K* and Haplogroup LT (also known as K1). As of 2017, the phylogeny of haplogroup K2 is as follows: K-M526 (K2) M526 – formerly known as K(xLT) and MNOPS K-M2308 (K2a) M2308 – found only in ancient remains; see above) K-M2313 (K2a1) M2313 NO-F549 (NO*) or K-M2335 F549/S22380/M2335/V4208; M2335/Z4952/M2339/E482; CTS11667 NO1-M214 (NO1*) or NO-F176 M214/Page39; F176/M2314; CTS5858/M2325/F346; CTS11572 N-M231 (N*) M231; CTS2947/M2175; Z4891; CTS10118 O-M175 (O*) M175/P186/P191/P196; F369/M1755; F380/M1757/S27659 K-Y28299 (primary subclade of K2a; no phylogenetic name as of 2017) Y28299/Y28355; Y28357; Y28412 – found in one living individual in India K-Y28301 (primary subclade of K2a; no phylogenetic name as of 2017) Y28301/Y28328; Y28358; Y28410 – found in two living individuals in India K-P331 (K2b) M1221/P331/PF5911, CTS2019/M1205, PF5990/L405, PF5969 – subclades of K2b include the major haplogroups M; S, P, Q, and R K-P261 (K2c) P261 K-P261 (K2d) P402 K-P261 (K2e) M147 Distribution At the level of highly-derived subclades, K2 is almost universal in some modern Eurasian, Australasian and Native American populations. Haplogroup NO (M214), as a descendant of K2a (M2308), includes most males among Southeast Asian, East Asian, and Finno-Ugric-speaking populations. Similarly, the direct descendants of K2b include the major haplogroups M; S, P, Q, and R. These are now numerically in dominant in: Oceania, Central Asia, Siberia, among Native American populations, Europe, and South Asia. A rapid diversification within and from K2 (M526), most likely in Southeast Asia, is suggested by estimates of the point in time that K2 branched off from K* (M9). Likewise the branching from K2 of K2b (P331) and Haplogroup P (K2b2 P295) from K2b, as well as Haplogroups Q and R from P (K2b2), and their subsequent expansions westward in Europe, and eastward into the Americas. K2c, K2d, and K2e are extremely rare subhaplogroups that are found in specific