Science reveals how Europeans evolved white skin

Europe is the ancestral home of white people, right? Wrong. Caucasians are actually a recent addition to the continent, anthropologically speaking.

Science magazine reports that white skin developed in Europe over the last 8,000 years, according to new research.

Earlier migrants to Europe from Africa (circa 40,000) were dark skinned, and most suited to the heat and intense sunshine of the southern hemisphere.

The later immigrants who arrived around 8,000 years ago and settled in northern Europe contained the genes that lead to depigmentation, or paler skin.

When these two ethnic groups mixed, the propagation of white skin, blond hair and blue eyes effectively began.

At least three ancient populations of hunter-gatherers settled in the region during the period including Yamnaya herders from near the Black Sea, who are thought to have brought Indo-European languages with them.

Credit: http://news.sciencemag.org/