Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin

[Matty]

[ QUOTE ]
. Some scientists suggest that lighter skin offered a strong survival advantage for people who migrated out of Africa by boosting their levels of bone-strengthening vitamin D; others have posited that its novelty and showiness simply made it more attractive to those seeking mates.

Where the white women at?

[/ QUOTE ]Those are only 2 of like 9 reasons white skin may have developed in some populations.

White skin produces more vitamin D which is needed where there is less sunlight, melanin also is more energy-expensive, dark skin provides resistance to UV radiation (sunburned babies are no good), many of the alleles that contribute to light skin also contribute to light-colored eyes, which can see better in darker environments, there's sexual selection, a weak theory that darker skin is better for jungle environments (camouflage), and a couple more that I forget. I think dark skin dissipates heat better too, but I don't remember exactly.