 Haplogroup Q is a descendant of haplogroup M.

Today, mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup Q is found in the southern Pacific region, especially in New Guinea, Melanesia and indigenous Australians.Haplogroup Q is very diverse and frequently occurring among Papuan and Melanesian populations, with an inferred coalescence time of approximately 50,000 years before present.The frequency of this haplogroup among the populations of the islands of Wallacea in eastern Indonesia is quite high, indicating some genetic affinity between the populations of these islands and the indigenous peoples of New Guinea.