[1] Basal paragroup K2b* has not been identified among living males but was found in Upper Paleolithic Tianyuan man from China.

The population geneticist Tatiana Karafet and other researchers (2014) point out that K2b1, its subclades and P* are virtually restricted geographically to South East Asia and Oceania.

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.[1] According to geneticist Spencer Wells, haplogroup K originated in the Middle East or Central Asia, in the region of Iran or Pakistan.

[6] Modern populations with living members of K2b1 all subclades), P* (P-P295*; K2b2*) and P2 (K2b2b) appear to be restricted to Oceania, South East Asia and Siberia.

Basal, un-mutated P1* (K2b2a*; P-M45*), in modern times, is distributed in isolated pockets, over a relatively wide area that includes Island South East Asia.

[1] Many ethnic groups with high frequencies of P1 are located in Central Asia and Siberia: 35.4% among Tuvans, 28.3% among Altaian Kizhi,[8] and 35% among Nivkh males.