It is therefore a "paragroup", as shown by the "*". In practice a paragroup might be one clade, "waiting" for its UEP to be discovered, or it might contain many clades.
There is some inconsistency and confusion concerning the correct use of the paragroup "star" (*). When reading journal articles and other sources care should be taken to ensure whether any or all possible sub-clades have been tested for and found to be negative. (A true paragroup should have been tested for all possible UEPs and found negative before it should have a star.)
- Cruciani et al. (2004) found 2 out of 34 Ethiopian Amhara tested, to be M215 positive but M35 negative, and therefore in the paragroup "E-M215*".
- More recently, Cadenas et al. (2007) found one more E-M215* individual in Yemen, just across the Red Sea from the Amhara, out of 62 people tested there.
These discoveries are critical in trying to determine the place of origin of E-M35. (We can also look at parent and sibling clades of E-M215.)