why do white people have different hair and eye colors?

Question

and why do asian people all have the same hair and eye color? Is there more genetic variability in whites?

Answer 1

Pale skin tones are an adaptation by ancient peoples to survive low levels of Vitamin D. Low vitamin D= rickets, a debilitating affliction. The principal source of Vitamin D is sunlight which is in shorter supply the farther from the equator you travel.

Humans evolved near the equatorial environment, and thus they needed to increase their relative amount of vitamin D to survive as they moved north and south.

The original humans had dark skin and hair and eyes.

The original mutations that became the lighter skinned Asians and Caucasians came from a combination of preferential breeding successes for paleness and in the case of Northern Europeans, albinism.

Albinos appear in most vertebrates, not just mammals and humans. But in prehistoric Africa, an albino individual, with their pale skin, lighter hair color and blue/pink/light eyes would be at a distinct disadvantage in the harsh UV environs there.

As the early human tribes moved north, individuals with albinism not only survived, but had distinct advantages over darker skinned kin.
they werre less prone to rickets and their offspring thrived.

It was only much later on that human technology and diet adapted enough to allow any human an equal survival chance in any climate.

Where I live in Western Canada, new immigrants from Nigeria and other parts of Africa are recommended to consume dietary supplements for Vitamin D to avoid the rickets.

Answer 2

There is no one answer to this question. There are a number of theories. Even Wikipedia can outline these for you. It is possible that the paler hair colours (blind and red) are the result of the paler skin colour and it's receptivity to vitamin D & that is certainly one school of thought. Another possibility is that the blond/red hair comes from shared Neanderthal ancestors. It is worth noting that another evolution of blond hair occurred separately in Melanesians who are black skinned & is independent of any European ancestry.
Blue eyes were a mutation first believed to have occurred around 8000 years ago, around the Black Sea. They quickly rose to prominence amongst Proto-Indo-Europeans in Western Europe who had come up from parts of present day Indian to Europe, possibly due to a cultural preference that lead to individuals with blue eyes having more children.
If you want to know more look up each hair/eye colour on Wikipedia then use links from the references for more info

Answer 3

If you have read the pages Hair color - what is it and Hair color - biochemistry, you will have a good idea as to how we get so many different shades and colors of hair. Basically, the natural color of the hair is decided by, what type of melanin is in the hair, how much melanin is in the hair, and how densely packed the melanin is within the hair fiber.


Different eye colors are produced because of the different amounts and patterns of pigment in the iris. The amount of pigment and the pattern of the pigment is determined by a person's genetic makeup. The DNA received from one's parents determines what color eyes they will have.

Each human has 46 chromosomes located in the nucleus of the cell. These are divided into 23 pairs of chromosomes. A baby inherits one chromosome from each parent in each pair of chromosomes. A piece of DNA on a chromosome is called a gene. Genes are the basic unit of heredity, they determine many characteristics about a baby. Genes also come in pairs. Alleles are found in genes and determine the appearance of any characteristic

Answer 4

All races are able to have a variety of hair and eye colors. It just happens that dark hair and brown eyes are extremely prevalent in the particular populations you are looking at. In addition these traits are dominant to the lighter colored varieties so there is a much lower chance of getting a blond hair blue eyed individual in a population composed of mostly brown haired brown eyed people. But it is possible and I bet you will find asians who have blue and green eyes and have lighter colored hair.

Answer 5

Asian people dont all have the same hair and eye color. That is a stereotype. Most have dark hair because their parents had dark hair. If you look closely you will see different shades of dark hair in all races.

Answer 6

It's about genes and ancestors. Personally I do not believe there are recessive genes. Why are blue eye genes considered weaker when in fact they are probably more precious and thus scarcer than brown eye genes? Same thing for green eyes and blonde or dark hair. So brown is not dominant, it's just that there are a lot more brown genes floating around because they are 'cheap'. Statistically speaking, it's all about numbers so naturally if there are more brown genes, it will seem that brown is dominant and the others recessive. Take all this with a pinch of salt...

Answer 7

Asians have same hair and eye color? You mean oriental people? Orientals are the ones who basicly have one hair and eye color, the rest of Asia the people have various hair, eye, skin tones. For instance, the Kashmiris, afghans, Iranians, north indians and northern middleast look white with diffrent hair, eye colors. Southern India they have black, brown hair with diffrent eye colors. Southern middleast the people usualy have black or brown hair and occasionaly blond and red hair with various eye colors.

Answer 8

cuz in some races certain things, like hair or eye color, are recessive. either that or cuz people r made for where they live, so african and south-american people have black skin because they originally lived in the hottest part of the planet. caucasion people have lighter skin because there was less sun exposer during the year. thats why people can get sunburned so easily in n american, cuz the native americans were darker skinned and since we're lighter skinned we dont fit this region as well. sorta cunfusing isnt it.

Answer 9

there are such multiple white human beings, our united states is a white majority. an conventional college room probly has basically 2 black human beings, a million indian individual, and so on. this is because of the fact minorities are so few that they are unique. there is way less of a huge gamble that somebody else sounds like them.

Answer 10

well b/c they are purebred asian. Americans are a desendent to Irish, German, Russian, Spanish, French I think you get the idea. I