Why do people only have green, blue or brown eyes? Why not red or purple or yellow?

Answer 1

Elizabeth Taylor was among the small percentage of people with violet coloured eyes...which is a variation of purple...albeit a paler shade of the colour. Albino's have no pigment which makes their eyes appear pink/red. Yellow? sorry, can't help there, but I suppose a very pale green would occasionally appear yellow.

Actually what makes 'blue eyes' is lack of colour - making them APPEAR to be blue.

Kinda like the sky I guess, which ISN'T actually blue at all!

Did a bit of research and it turns out my supposition about eye colour and sky colour was right! Yeah for Franja!

Answer 2

The genes that determine eye color actually indicate the production of a particular amount of pigment. Without any pigment, the iris appears to be blue (although it is really a lack of pigment and the blue comes from a reflection of some sort). The pigment is brown, making a fully pigmented eye brown, and then intermediate shades (grey, green, hazel) all come from incomplete coverage of the blue base by moderate amounts of brown pigment.

Answer 3

I've never seen anyone with red eyes, but I have seen pictures of and heard of a few people who have violet coloured eyes, and it's really pretty. My friend has yellow/goldish eyes...it's really unique and different. I don't know why those colours are so uncommon though. It has something to do with genes, and I guess blue, green and brown eye genes are usually dominant.

Answer 4

Cool question. Some Albinos have red eyes.
Eye color or eye colour is a polygenic trait and is determined primarily by the amount and type of pigments present in the eye's iris. Humans and other animals have many phenotypic variations in eye color. In humans, these variations in color are attributed to varying ratios of the two types of melanin produced by melanocytes in the iris: eumelanin and pheomelanin. The brightly colored eyes of many bird species are largely determined by other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids.

Three main elements within the iris contribute to its color: the melanin content of the iris pigment epithelium, the melanin content within the iris stroma, and the cellular density of the iris stroma. In eyes of all colors, the iris pigment epithelium contains the black pigment, eumelanin. Color variations among different irises are typically attributed to the melanin content within the iris stroma.The density of cells within the stroma affects how much light is absorbed by the underlying pigment epithelium.

Eye color is an inherited trait influenced by more than one gene.[6][7] In humans, three genes coding for eye color are currently known: EYCL1, EYCL2, and EYCL3.[8][9] These genes account for three phenotypic eye colors (brown, green, and blue) in humans.[3] Although it was once thought that brown eye color was always dominant and blue eye color was always recessive, the fact that two blue-eyed parents can give birth to a brown-eyed child has shown that the determination of eye color does not follow the simple rules of Mendelian inheritance.[6][10] In fact, most babies of European or Southern Asian descent tend to have blue eyes at first, then either remains that colour or turns green to brown depending on pigmentation levels. Eye colour usually stabilizes when an infant is around 6 months old. [11]

Answer 5

Evolution, and dominant genes. Although Blue Eyes used to be common in the U.S., they are becoming a rarity since brown eyes are a dominant gene, and more families are multi-cultural.

Answer 6

I have red eyes when I wake up in the morning after 4 hours sleep.

Answer 7

Apparently I have all those colours in my eyes. Actually, I imagine most people do but blue and brown seem to dominate ...

Answer 8

that is a really interesting question. maybe someday...after 100's of years, people will have green or red eyes. the first humans probabaly all had the same color, and dna glitches had peoples eyes, over 100's of years, changing colors.

Answer 9

My first impulse was primary colours but then red and yellow are so maybe it has more to do with the genetic 'camouflage' thing which used to make us blend in with nature?

Answer 10

That's a good point. What colour would you change your eyes too? I think I'd have purple...