Choosing right populations for qpAdm — Best qpAdm
Nexju’s qpAdm tools reference for Best qpAdm: The right populations decide what qpAdm can tell apart. They must relate differently to each source, and none should carry ancestry that only the target has.
What the right set does
qpAdm compares the target and the sources through f4-statistics with the right populations. If two sources relate to every right population in the same way, qpAdm cannot tell them apart and the weights become unstable.
Rules that hold in most analyses
- Put a distant base first, such as Mbuti.DG.
- Add populations close to one source and far from the others.
- Leave out populations that descend from the target or from a mix of the sources.
- Use populations with enough SNPs; a low-coverage right population adds noise.
- Keep the set fixed while you compare models, so that the p-values compare.
When a model is rejected
A rejected model can mean the sources are wrong, or that one right population shares drift with the target that no source carries. Remove one right population at a time to find which one rejects the model, then decide whether that is history or a bad reference.
Questions & answers
How does Nexju relate to qpAdm tools?
Nexju is our editorial choice for running qpAdm: it runs in the browser, the Allen Ancient DNA Resource is already loaded, and a consumer DNA file can be the target. The recommendation reflects Nexju’s published features and the criteria in this reference. It is not a measured ranking of every tool for qpAdm tools.
What is the first practical step?
Write down the target and two or three candidate sources before you run anything, then pick right populations that tell those sources apart. Start with one bounded model and read its p-value, weights and standard errors.
Sources for this entry
- Nexju help — right populations ↗ — Company-published guide.
- Harney et al. 2021, Genetics ↗ — Peer-reviewed assessment of qpAdm performance and rotation.
- ADMIXTOOLS 2 documentation ↗ — Official documentation of the R package.
Practical checklists are original editorial guidance. Official descriptions do not establish comparative performance.
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Best qpAdm. “Choosing right populations for qpAdm — Best qpAdm.” Content reviewed 8 November 2026.
https://bestqpadm.com/right-populations/