>>14294807Ethnicity is usually defined by a shared common descent and genealogy, and also often on shared physical features, not just cultural and linguistics which also overlap with shared ancestry, and partially derive from them in terms of genetic isolation and some behavioural traits. Genetics is a scientific tool to elaborate on these characteristics of ethnicities and populations, supporting, rejecting and/or providing a different insight on their origins. Geneticists clearly use ethnic categories with regards to their observed genetic clusters, including population, ecotype, cline, subspecies, race, ethnic groups, cultural groups, etc.
Racial categories are consistently refined and changed just as subspecies are, but as a category is not considered obsolete at all. Harvard geneticist David Reich (geneticist) has pointed this out especially, and genetic populations do correlate with racial categories, even colloquial ones which differ between locations and cultures. The level of correlation varies, and of course they are refined to more accurately reflect actual genetic distinctions, but does not mean the categorization process itself is invalid, or that there are no correlations. Subspecies, racial groups, genetic lineages, populations, etc. all exist, and correlate with presumed ethnic origins of groups to varying extents, but also are revived based on more findings and evidence. The purpose of the genetic studies is to investigate the claimed presumed ancestral origins of ethnic groups and racial populations, and most often supports such claimed shared ancestry to varying extents. Genetic studies routinely show the strong correlation between claimed ancestry, language groups, geography and genetic clusters.
