Why do black, latino, arabian, asian people all have dark hair?

Question

Why did caucations evolve with lighter features? What could have happened in our evolution that made us different in that one distinct way?

Answer 1

Human beings have many variations in hair color (or colour) and hair texture.

Hair color is the result of pigmentation due to the presence of the chemicals of melanin. In general, the more melanin, the darker the hair color.

In general, the color of children's and adults' hair varies from pale yellow (blonde) to deep black.The ethnic distribution of colors has historically varied by geographic area. For example, deep brown and black prevail in the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe, and even darker shades occur in East Asia, South Asia, as well as tropical (Sub-saharan) Africa and The Americas; lighter brown is more common in western, central & eastern Europe, yellow/blond in northern Europe, and reddish in the British Isles.

However, considerable differences in hair color and texture exist between individuals of similar ethnicity, and immigration and global travel have greatly increased the diversity of hair characteristics in many countries.

At least two gene pairs control the overall human hair color. One gene, which is a brown/blonde pair, has a dominant brown allele and a recessive blonde allele. If a person carries the brown allele, he will have brown hair; otherwise, he will be blonde. This also explains why two brown-haired parents can produce a blonde-haired child. The other gene pair is a not-red/red pair, where the "not-red" allele (which suppresses production of phaeomelanin) is dominant and the allele for red hair is recessive. Since the two gene pairs both govern hair color, a person with two copies of the red-haired allele will have red hair, but it will be either auburn or bright reddish orange depending upon whether the first gene pair gives a brown or blonde hair color respectively. The recessive genes for both blonde and red hair are found nearly exclusively in populations of Whites and Caucasians

However, the two-gene model cannot explain the various shades of brown, blonde, or red which may occur (for example, platinum blonde versus dark blonde/light brown), or why one blonde child's hair might turn brown as he grows up while another blonde child's hair does not.

According to some research, there are several gene pairs that control the light versus dark hair color in an accumulative effect. Therefore, the more of these that are dominant, the darker the hair will be.

Hope this helps. I have also read somewhere that the northern Europeans have blonde hair because there is less sunlight and their bodies cannot produce enough melanin. Howver this does not explain why blonde people often go even blonder when in the sun - i.e. sun-bleached. Nor does it explain why Eskimos usually have black hair.

More from wikpedia

Blond hair is a relatively rare human phenotype, occurring in 1.7 to 2% of the world population with the majority of natural blondes in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, most notably on the northern part of the continent. Blond hair ranges from nearly white (platinum blond, tow-haired) to a dark golden brown. A common stereotype holds that Western men are known to prefer fair-haired women to their darker-haired contemporaries and this has caused many women to dye or bleach their hair blond.

Blond hair occurs in peoples of Europe (especially of non-Latin or Mediterranean heritage), in some areas of South Asia, and even in the Middle East. It is genetically associated with lighter eye color such as blue, green, or light brown and with pale, often freckled, skin tones. 5% of Americans are naturally blond.

Blond hair is also associated with skin cancer (as melanoma) and albinism.

Blondness is a recessive gene and a popular hoax says that the gene will be dead in 200 years.[7] It has more phaeomelanin than eumelanin but has less than red hair. Natural blondes have the thinnest strand of hair but have more hair on their heads than others. They have an average of 140,000 hairs.

Of those previously mentioned, by far the least common hair color present in the United States is Red hair, shared by only around three percent of the American population. Red hair which ranges from vivid strawberry shades to deep auburn and burgundy is found in Europeans, especially in the British Isles and is associated with the Celtic nations mainly Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is less commonly found in peoples of Japan and some other areas of the world. It is a recessive gene and believed to be an uncommon one. It is also found in the Middle East, and appears uncommonly in those of African descent.

Red hair is genetically associated with lighter eye color, especially green, blue, and light to medium brown and pale, often melanin-less skin. Red hair has the highest amounts of phaeomelanin and the lowest of eumelanin. They have the thickest strands of hair and the lowest amounts of strands at 90,000.

The vast majority of people have brown hair of varying shades. It is found all over the world, in and out of Europe, and is especially common in those of Latin, Mediterranean, Balkan, Pacific Islander, and Middle Eastern descent. Europeans also have high percentages of it. Many women with brown hair are called brunettes, especially if they are of European descent.

Brown hair is genetically associated with olive and darker tones of skin and brown eyes, however many White people often have brown hair and light eye colour and/or lighter skin tone. They have medium-thick strands of hair and about 100,000 strands of hair.
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Black hair

Black hair is common in the peoples of Asian, African, South Asian, Native American, Afro-Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Latin, Mediterranean, Balkan and Pacific Islander heritage. Nearly all people of Asian and African descent have it. It is very similar to brown hair in strand thickness, abundance and genetic associations. As of 2006, a popular trend is for teenagers and young adults infuenced by the emo and goth subcultures to dye their hair black.

Answer 2

The hair issue is not about an evolutionary advantage but is like eye colours. However, with the skin there are definite biological reasons why people in hotter countries have darker skin and white skin predominates at higher latitudes.

In order to protect the skin from sun damage light skinned people tan when in the sun in summer. However, in countries where the sun is always above a dangerous level, these people have evolved darker skin, which is due to the melanin in the skin blocking the harmful suns rays and preventing them from penetrating deeper into the skin. There is no advantage to black people not being black all the time if they are in their natural environment, so they do not lose there tan over time.
However, in higher latitudes there are advantages in letting the sun penetrate the skin in winter months, one of which is the production of vitamin D which is produced in the skin by the action of sunlight. White skin lets the sun penetrate more and therefore keep production of vitamin D going. Some sun penetration has other benefits, there have been numerous studies showing some cancers are more prevalent in the north of America and when other factors are removed it is shown to be related to getting a certain amount of sun in safe dosages.

Another confusion about skin is why are black skinned people in the equatorial region and shouldn't they be white as black absorbs heat and white reflects heat. The brief answer is that the melanin in the skin is acting like a black blind to block light penetration, not reflecting light to keep the person cool. Perspiration does that.

Answer 3

Caucasians evolved from blacks as they traveled across the Bering straight. Because of the cold temperature the human race had to adapt hence the reason for the smaller longer noses to allow less heat loss from the body. the lighter skin and hair was also because of the temperature (less sunlight)

Answer 4

I have brown tresses and I have Blonde highlights. Possibly you should try lighter blonde, that might look better than brown, dark brown just looks kind of trashy.

Answer 5

consider a condition where all people has the same feature... same color hair, same color skin. they are all distributed evenly through out the earth. now evolution will take place. the genes will evolve accordingly..due to environmental forces. the places where there r more sunshine will have more people with dark color traits. (more melanin-darker-more protection against uv light). some mutation might occur where, people in hot place still have bright color skin. or this might due to interaction between gene pools.

Answer 6

its because those races were first evolved in the equator region where the sun beams down and turns the skin very dark. dark skin evolved the hair dark too. thats why people from north and south earth are fair and usually blonde or brown hair

Answer 7

Well, it's sort of related to Darwin's theory of evolution...I think humans fit into particular ecosystems, for example, some scientists believe that humans started out in Africa. If we came from chimpanzees, our skin would darker once we started out, and it's really hot in Africa. If we migrated to different parts of the world, our skin would lighten, because the sun isn't as bright.

Answer 8

hair color is controlled by a genes. Dark hair is dominant, and light hair is recessive. Thus, there are more dark haired people than light haired people.

In certain cultures, dark hair has been passed on for so long that there aren't any light recessive genes left in the gene pool. So you get certain cultural heritages that all have dark hair.

Answer 9

Sure you could dye it black. Be warned although, even if you dye your hair black best semi completely, it nonetheless on no account fairly returns to your fashioned colour, it'll come close, but it won't be the equal. It's also beautiful tough if you happen to dye it permanently to get it again to your customary color, if you happen to bleach it it'll go orange. Also, black hair can oftentimes seem relatively harsh, but on the other hand it could seem very hanging.

Answer 10

Yes you would dye it black. Be warned even though, although you dye your hair black best semi completely, it nonetheless on no account relatively returns for your customary color, it's going to come near, nevertheless it may not be the identical. It could also be lovely tough for those who dye it completely to get it again for your customary color, for those who bleach it it's going to move orange. Also, black hair can regularly appear relatively harsh, however then again it would appear very putting.

Answer 11

the heat. they're closer to the equator. the blonde haired scandanavians are in the cold north... like polar bears..
and genes pass those on to others around the world.