Where do differences in skin color originate from?
In: Biology
So, I’m no expert but what I remember from my college anthropology class it stems from humans migrating north from Africa many, many moons ago. As humans migrated farther away from the equator, their sun exposure was less and less the farther north they migrated generationally because of the rotation around the sun and tilt of the axis of the Earth. The sun provides vitamin D and the sun was really the only source for that. Evidently, skin pigmentation acts as SPF and the northern migrants weren’t getting enough of it so over many generations the humans adapted by losing melanin to gain the ability to absorb vitamin D. Apparently, vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and, as we all know, calcium is important for bone strength, which was important to a species that stands upright, and so on. I found it so interesting. I kinda wish I had taken more anthropology classes but in the moment I just wanted to be done with school.
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