posted on April 22, 2001 06:00:53 PM new
Before I start, I am not directing this at anyone. It's an article that appeared in our Sunday Newspaper.
Red hair may be the legacy of Neandertahal man.
Oxford University scientists think the ginger gene, which is responsible for red hair, fair skin and freckles, could be up to 100,000 years old.
They say their discovery points to the gene having originated in Neanderthal man, who lived in Europe for 260,000 years before the ancestors of modern man arrived from Africa about 40,000 years ago.
The Neanderthals are generally thought to have been less intelligent species than modern man, Homo Sapiens. They were taller and stockier, but with shorter limbs, bigger faces and noses, receding chins and low foreheads.
They settled in Europe about 300,000 years ago, but 40,000 years ago a wave of immigrants - our forbears, Cro-Magnon Man emerged from Africa and the two species coexisted for 10,000 years.
Dr Rosalind Harding suggests the two species interbred for the ginger gene to survive.
He said red-heads should not be offended by being linked to the primitive Neanderthals.
They used a computer to calculate how long it must have taken for the mutation responsible for ginger hair to have passed down thru the generations and become so common among Western people.
They concluded the mutation was older than 50,000 years and could be as old as 100,000 years.
All I can say is "How rude!!!" and I've got brown hair.
posted on April 22, 2001 08:37:16 PM new
Well I'm a redhead and proud of it!!!!
I am a bit upset, cause my pal Mybid might not like me now, and she won't wanna play no more.
I have the red hair, medium fair colouring with slight tan, I am tall, but do not have short or stumpy limbs. My forehead is normal and I do not have a receding chin.
So god help me, what the hell am I supposed to be???
Don't ya all know red heads have the most fun. LOL hahaha We can make your head spin in a flash.
So where are all the other red heads, cause I know I am not the only one out there.
posted on April 22, 2001 08:47:31 PM new
>>Waving Hand in Air<<
I give up! I fit this description to the "enth" degree! I am Red-headed, Fair-skinned, and Green Eyes. I am almost an Albino, needing sunglasses to see in bright daylight, but I also have terrific night-vision! I BURN easily, but easily run around in freezing temperatures in only a T-Shirt. I don't have a protruding brow and I do have a stright, Roman nose, so I wonder where the Neanderthal comes in at? Is being a Progressive really Recessive? I wonder.
*edited* to addL I forgot to mention the MASSIVE amount of freckles ... Howdy-Doody, ya know?
posted on April 22, 2001 08:59:53 PM newBorillar , good for you. I forgot to mention that I also have very bright green eyes, and have to wear sunglasses in any sunlight, the glare kills me, this is very common for most red heads.
posted on April 22, 2001 09:07:44 PM new
I never knew that red-heads were more likely to have green eyes, come to think if it - green eyes are indeed rare. Still haven't got the red hair, but I'd like the green eyes please.
posted on April 22, 2001 11:20:42 PM new
Actually, the four most likely places to find red-headed people with fair skin and green eyes with lotsa freckles are : Denmark, Ireland and Scotland, and Northern Italy. Strike that. Northern Italians have striking bright blue eyes instead of the green eyes.
In Indiana eyery year, they used to have a "Most Freckled" contest. Went state-wide and was a big event.
I never saw the reason why women disliked freckles on themselves so much.
posted on April 22, 2001 11:56:28 PM new
Actually my father's family is from Northern Italy, so someone must have played up. LOL haha
I am lucky, I do not have a lot of freckles, just a small smattering across my nose. But one of my sons' has a mate with very ginger red hair and you could play connect a dot with his freckles. The poor kid is covered in huge big orange freckles.
posted on April 23, 2001 01:46:33 AM newNetta I know who you are talking about and I really think he does have some sort of connection with the Neanderthals.
Borillar My hubby is Scottish, as with all his family and none of them have red hair or green eyes. My family is Irish, I think!! and none of them have it either.
I have been blessed with freckles everywhere,
where did I get them? Maybe I'm a mutant, all the rest of my family have blue eyes, mine are brown.
posted on April 23, 2001 02:43:21 AM new
My son was born with bright orange/red hair. He was the talk of the hospitol. Later it was just a beautiful red. Now as an adult it's reddish blond. His father and I have auburn hair and brown eyes. He has very pale blue eyes. He doesn't have freckles but is so fair skinned it embarrasses him. He hated wearing shorts when he played socker, and when he was a teen he used tons of that self tanning lotion and went to tanning studios.
posted on April 23, 2001 02:46:14 AM new
Although I am quite olive skinned, I remember using that self tanning lotion - the only thing to come out brown, were my hands. LOL.
posted on April 23, 2001 02:54:31 AM newchococake, I have a nephew that was born with really red hair and very blue eyes, he did not have a lot of freckles on his face, but he did on his legs and he was almost lilly white in the skin department.
Thankfully as he got older, his hair has changed colour and it is now a nice shade of Auburn. He even has a very slight tan to his face these days. That is without the tanning lotion.
I hated that tanning lotion stuff, it always left your hands a revolting shade of orange/brown.
posted on April 23, 2001 06:00:27 AM new
I'm not a red-head, but one of my favorite memories is summer 1972 when I dated a red-head.
He was only a couple of inches taller than I, his hair was very kinky (almost like a white person's afro) and he was really goofy looking, but I had such a ball with him! He was crazy as a loon, and we'd party away the night into the morning almost every day.
Everytime I see a red-head, I think of him and chuckle.
posted on April 23, 2001 06:58:50 AM new
I find freckles so attractive I can't start to tell you. I had a couple dates with a red headed girl in high school who had a beautiful mat of freckes not only all over her face but her arms and shoulders.
After a couple dates she found out I adored her freckles and that was the end of me because she hated her freckles and only wanted a boyfriend who agreed with her that they were hideous but wanted to date her anyway.
There is one girl who is determained to be unhappy.
posted on April 23, 2001 12:51:37 PM new
Hey guys, count me in!!!
I'm a green eyed redhead. I have a sister and a son who are blue eyed redheads. We all have fair skin but the freckles vary. My sister is loaded with freckles, I have some on my arms, but my son has hardly any; I think it's because I have gone out of my way since he was a baby to keep him covered up in the sun because I'm paranoid about skin cancer.
One thing we all share is this weird thing where we sneeze if we look at a light or the sun. Even if the sunlight hits the side of my nose a certain way I sneeze. There's a name for this but I can't think of it.
posted on April 23, 2001 02:38:05 PM newGravid I actually agree with you, I think freckles can look quite sexy. As I've got older however, the freckles seem to be multiplying and not so attractive. I remember when I was a teen, I had little freckles across my nose and everyone used to think they looked cute.
Busybiddy Funny you should mention about the sneezing in the sun, I've done that all my life, I thought I was the only one with the weird problem, glad to know that I'm not alone.
posted on April 23, 2001 02:49:09 PM new
Freckles are Cinnamon Sprinkles or Angels kisses in our family. So far the young ones think freckles are special and based on the little redheaded girls they really are.Kazanne you can have a fun time playing connect the dots with a significant other!
posted on April 23, 2001 02:57:20 PM new
When we went camping at Easter, there was this family next to us. Their little son was about 5 or 6, the reddist hair I've ever seen and freckles all over his face. He was also one of the cutest little things I've ever seen - had a real mischievious look about him and you couldn't help but want to cuddle him.
posted on April 23, 2001 03:15:10 PM new
My dad, 100% Irish, had jet black hair that had a blue sheen to it and my mom, from the Caucaus Mountain region, had auburn hair so dark that it was nearly black. But my brother and I have the fair-skin scheme, although my sister does not. Who can tell when these recessive genes will surface?
posted on April 23, 2001 03:23:38 PM new
My mother had auburn, dad had none, one sister black hair and the other blonde. I've got brown. My grandmother had jet black and actually died still with jet black hair, never went grey and she was 86. Maybe I was adopted!!!! Maybe us kids were all adopted!!!
posted on April 23, 2001 05:30:28 PM new
Same here with the dark-haired parents. Both parents Irish and black-haired; mom had blue eyes, Dad had brown.
I'm not a genetics expert, but I was under the impression that to have a red-headed child, BOTH parents have to CARRY the recesssive gene for red-headedness. That's why some parents don't have red-haired children even though one of the parents is a red-head. Like my sister, the redhead. All 3 of her kids are black-haired. And then my brown haired brother and his black-haired wife have a red-headed girl. Depends on who you marry!
