Re: DISCOVER/Neanderthal/Homo Sap.
HARRY R. ERWIN (herwin@osf1.gmu.edu)
20 Sep 1995 13:43:27 GMT
Barry Mennen (barrym2@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: In <bcatDEv16q.oD@netcom.com> bcat@netcom.com (Bearcat) writes:
: >
: >Harry Erwin (herwin@gmu.edu) wrote:
: >
: >[was early H.s.s. darkskinned]
: >: Very likely they were. See the published material on the Nariokotome
: >: skeleton. If the Turkana Boy seems to show similar skeletal
: adaptations to
: >: the East African savannah to those seen in modern peoples of the
: same
: >: area, his skin color is likely to have been also very similar.
: That's why
: >: the tropical skeletal proportions of Cro Magnon man also seems to be
: >: saying something about skin pigment. Skin color is very sensitive to
: the
: >: amount of sunlight. It appears to go from very light to quite dark
: in no
: >: more than 3000-4000 years, given the evidence from India.
: >
: >Thanks.
: >
: >Is the reverse true as well? Do we go from dark to light in a similar
: >time-frame, and if so, why?
: >
: > - Bearcat
: >
: Please explain then, why some of the darkest-skinned people are forest
: dwellers, eg, Pygmies.
1. UV level _during_exposure_ is crucial. The Pygmies are agriculturalists.
2. The relaxation time is not as small as 300 years.
3. The Pygmies have significant gene flow with the nearby Bantu groups.
: Cheers
: Barry M.
--
Harry Erwin
Internet: herwin@gmu.edu
Home Page: http://osf1.gmu.edu/~herwin (try a couple of times)
PhD student in comp neurosci: "Glitches happen" & "Meaning is emotional"
|