Can somebody explain birthmarks to me?

Question

So.. i have a birthmark (it looks kinda like Nevada/ Bosnia 🤷‍♂️, btw) and I’m just curious about a few things:

First, at what stage of development do birthmarks appear?

Second, why do birthmarks appear in the first place?

And third, do birthmarks serve any purpose other than possibly being a conversation starter?

UPDATE: Thank you all for the upvotes, awards and comments… for those of you that asked, here’s a picture lol (sorry if it doesn’t look EXACTLY like Nevada/ Bosnia that’s just the best way I could describe it.)

^you ^dont ^have ^to ^be ^so ^mean ^🥺

http://imgur.com/a/OYVBB20

In: Biology

Answer 1

There are many types of birthmarks. The most common is the congenital nevus/mole. They are benign growths but are driven by a mutation in the cancer gene NRAS. Giant congenital nevi can take up large areas of the body, smaller congenital nevi likely occur later during development.