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

I seem to recall that they’re essentially mass-deposits of melanin, which is what causes pigmentation in skin. I sadly don’t know more than that, I’m mostly here to comment so this (hopefully) gains some traction and gets a more complete answer!