Researchers agree that our early australopithecine ancestors in Africa probably had light skin beneath hairy pelts.
From about 1.2 million years ago to less than 100,000 years ago, archaic humans, including archaic Homo sapiens, were dark-skinned.
A study on the genomes of Anatolian Neolithic farmers in West Eurasia (6500–300 BC), who are probably the source population of the first European farmers, suggests that the light skin color has been evolved since at least 6500–4000 years ago [98].
The evolution of dark skin is believed to have begun around 1.2 million years ago, in light-skinned early hominid species after they moved from the equatorial rainforest to the sunny savannas.
Some humans migrated eastward from Africa towards Indonesia, continually remaining in the tropics, and kept their dark skin colour. Others migrated north. This occurred several times, and each time their skin colour became lighter. This happened so that they would be able to get enough Vitamin D.
Until recently, researchers assumed that after human ancestors shed most body hair, sometime before 2 million years ago, they quickly evolved dark skin for protection from skin cancer and other harmful effects of UV radiation.
From his research, he's found that people from Senegal and the islands of Micronesia have some of the darkest skin tones in the world. That's typical in countries close the equator, where the dark pigment melanin protects against UV damage from the sun's rays.
Evidence still suggests that all modern humans are descended from an African population of Homo sapiens that spread out of Africa about 60,000 years ago but also shows that they interbred quite extensively with local archaic populations as they did so (Neanderthal and Denisovan genes are found in all living non-Africa ...
Early H. erectus had smaller, more primitive teeth, a smaller overall size and thinner, less robust skulls compared to later specimens. The species also had a large face compared to modern humans. Like Neanderthals, their skull was long and low, rather than rounded like our own, and their lower jaw lacked a chin.
Abstract. Using gene frequency data for 62 protein loci and 23 blood group loci, we studied the genetic relationship of the three major races of man, Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. Genetic distance data indicate that Caucasoid and Mongoloid are somewhat closer to each other than to Negroid.
Genetic distance estimates suggest that among the three major races of man the first divergence occurred about 120,000 years ago between Negroid and a group of Caucasoid and Mongoloid and then the latter group split into Caucasoid and Mongoloid around 60,000 years ago.
Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa. Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans.
Another skeleton from the same cave gave us Neanderthal DNA from 120,000 years ago. But all of this DNA has something in common: Almost all of it comes from Europe and Asia. The oldest DNA from sub-Saharan Africa—the place where the whole human story began—dates back to less than 10,000 years ago.
Soon a bamboo tree grew up, and from the hollow of one of its branches a man and a woman came out. The man's name was Sicalac, and the woman was called Sicabay. They were the parents of the human race.
Co-lead researcher Shimona Kealy said these people probably travelled through Indonesia's northern islands, into New Guinea and then Australia, which were part of a single continent between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago, when sea levels were 25-50 metres below the current level.
African and Indian skin had the highest total amount of melanin in the epidermis (t-test; P < 0.001), with no significant differ- ence between them. Amongst the remaining lighter groups, there was no significant difference in total epidermal melanin content.
Areas like Scandinavia and Siberia have very low concentrations of ultraviolet radiation, and indigenous populations are all light-skinned.
Health experts advise everyone, regardless of skin color, to use sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. Although dark-skinned people won't get sunburned as quickly, they will still burn and are still susceptible to sun-induced damage—such as sun spots and wrinkles—and cancer .
Ancient DNA contains clues about complexion. An analysis of 50,000-year-old Neanderthal DNA suggests that at least some of the ancient hominids probably had pale skin and red hair.
African American subjects also completed a questionnaire. They found: Forearm skin was lighter in African Americans aged ≥65 years vs 18 to 30 years but darker in Caucasians aged ≥65 years vs 18 to 30 years.
A new genomic study has revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years.
Publishing its findings in Nature Communications, the study concluded that preserved remains found in Abusir-el Meleq, Middle Egypt, were closest genetic relatives of Neolithic and Bronze Age populations from the Near East, Anatolia and Eastern Mediterranean Europeans.
The world's largest ethnic group is Han Chinese, with Mandarin being the world's most spoken language in terms of native speakers.
Basic math tells us that all humans share ancestors, but it's amazing how recently those shared ancestors lived. Thanks to genetic data in the 21st century, scientists are discovering that we really are all descended from one mother.
Modern humans originated in Africa within the past 200,000 years and evolved from their most likely recent common ancestor, Homo erectus, which means 'upright man' in Latin. Homo erectus is an extinct species of human that lived between 1.9 million and 135,000 years ago.