My husband and I are having a disagreement about how people ended up with dark/white/fat/skinny skin. We were having a discussion about the science view of how humans came around. In the time line of what we can determine of human existence, why/how did people get different skin pigments and body sizes?
2007-06-14 16:51:06 · 7 answers · asked by kirstenw83 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
The reason for skin color is of course related to the sun. As people began to move north, their skin became lighter because you do actually need some sun light. It is this sunlight that creates vitamin D in your body (which of course you can get from supplements these days, like vitamin D milk). So, if you are dark and live in an area with very little sun, you can not make vitamin D as well. The lighter your skin became, the healthier you were (better able to make vitamin D).
As for size, people started to become bigger around the same time we began to farm. People in cooler climates tend to have larger bodies than people in warmer climates. It gets really complicated actually...
2007-06-14 17:01:48 · answer #1 · answered by Dolyn 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When we came out of Africa, dark skin and tall bodies were good for hot climates. In colder climates Fairer skin as well as more robust body shapes make more sense. If you notice, the hotter tropical climates do have darker skin. Also being tall means less of the sun hits your body. Of course we are getting taller now because of better health and the same with the bulking up part. If you went to the Sudan in Africa you would see tall thin people.
2007-06-14 23:57:49 · answer #2 · answered by punch 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
^ The color of your skin depended on where you were born, in hot climates, skin is darker to protect it from the sun, born in a cooler place lighter skin. As far as weight, it's kinda like now it depended on how much and what kind of food was available, how much they ate and heredity, The Eskimo's, way back when, ate whale blubber as part of their diet and were heavier, which was supposed to help keep them warm. Besides if everyone looked the same I think we would have a pretty boring world.
2007-06-15 00:14:10 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diet and environment account for everything. We have to adapt to our surroundings. The warmer (sunnier) climates bring out the pigment in our skin, and the cooler climates need less pigment.
As we learned to farm, instead of hunting and gathering, we thinned out. Neandertals were bigger, more robust people because they needed to travel long distances and carry their food. (Deer, other large game.)
2007-06-15 00:12:14 · answer #4 · answered by Beavis Seinfeld 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The original human genetic code held genes that would eventually result in the many races and genetic differences we have today. Geneticists can actually trace all mankind back to the Mesopotamia region, where the Bible indicated man originated.
2007-06-14 23:56:13 · answer #5 · answered by The Oldest Man In The World 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There was some type of evolution. Skeletons prove that.
After Cain killed Able, he went to the land of Nod and married. Who did he marry? An evolved creature that had evolved enough to mate with Cain and make little ones? Preachers are quick to say that Cain married his sister, but you have to keep in mind there was only three humans in the world at that time, Adam, Eve and Cain. So, who did he marry? Your call.
Modern man did NOT come from evolution. Pops
2007-06-14 23:57:50 · answer #6 · answered by Pops 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
well This link will answer about the different skin colors.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/AnswersBook/races18.asp
A lot of the fat, thin, tall, short come from our diet.
2007-06-14 23:54:35 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋