Eskimo tan ?

Question

Why are the eskimo people tanned? Well, not as much as people towards the equator, but why are they darker than northern Europeans, who lived in the same conditions?
Here's what I mean:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arcticwebsite.com/Eskimo1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arcticwebsite.com/eskimoimage.html&h=517&w=304&sz=25&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=-yqPl8j5XPbhsM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=77&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deskimo%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Snow reflects 95% of the Sun's radiation, so that would explain the tan.. i think?

Why didn't the Scandinavians develop a tan?

Answer 1

Northern Europeans are the only group that developed very light hair, skin & eyes... even though some Asians have lived in the higher latitudes longer than the Europeans. The skin of Asians lightened somewhat due to northern climates but not to the degree of Europeans. Some hypothesize that Neanderthal genes (because they evolved in Europe) had very light hair & skin, & were introgressed into the European genome some 37,000 yrs ago. A complete sequencing of the Neandertal genome is targeted for less than 18 months from now. This is why we still have the "Out of Africa" Vs "Regional" evolution arguement on sapien.
Below the neck, Homo erectus is identical to a robust sapien & recent discoveries in East Asia indicate the erectus had eventually evolved to have a brain very nearly the size of sapien's. Several genes in Europeans seem to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere & are not found in either sub Sahran Africa or in East Asia.

Answer 2

Swedes tan much better than I do. I am Irish and I think my ancestors must have been near the Arctic circle for longer than the Eskimos or maybe it is just more forests than on the open tundra or the 24 hours of sun in the summer.

Answer 3

Even though its freezing cold the suns Uv Rays are still there. Plus the ice reflects the sun rays. Its not unusuall so come back with a bit of a tan after going to the snow!

Answer 4

The Inuit people are descended from immigrants from the northern Asian continent. Hence, they will keep some of the traits of their ancestors.

FYI...The word Eskimo is considered by the Inuit to be a derogatory term. It translates in their language to "eaters of raw fish."

Answer 5

As early humans started migrating north into Europe and east into Asia, they were exposed to different amounts of sun. Those who went north found their dark skin worked against them–preventing them from absorbing enough sunlight to create vitamin D. To adapt, these humans started producing less melanin.

But Inuits vitamin D intake wasn’t dependent upon the sun. They get all that they need from their diet, heavy on types of fatty fish that are naturally rich in vitamin D. The plentiful amounts of the vitamin kept them from developing less melanin. In fact, before milk was fortified with D, people living outside of Northern Canada and Alaska loaded their diets with fishy products, such as cod liver oil, to get their daily supplement. So despite their chilly climate and lack of sun exposure, it’s the Inuit diet that has kept them in their natural glow.

Answer 6

Eskimos are descendants of the Asians and are the same race as the American Indians

Answer 7

Hmmm, that is a really good point, I never thought about that before. Honestly I don't know but perhaps, it could've been because they immigrated from Asia years ago.

Answer 8

Eskimo's are Indians by descent, so that may explain the darker complexions.

Answer 9

skin complexions change according from where your from...if you live in harsh weather like lots of wind or other conditions then you usually have tougher skin