What Is Melanin?
5. Evolutionary Origins of Melanin
About 1.2 million years ago, humans evolved to have dark skin to adapt to the loss of body hair and increased ultraviolet radiation. Before becoming hairless, early humans had light skin underneath, just like other primates. Modern humans evolved about 200,000 to 100,000 years ago and began populating the world via migration 80,000 to 50,000 years ago.
It is postulated that the first modern humans had a higher number of eumelanin producing melanocytes, resulting in darker skin similar to those of the indigenous people of Africa. With time, these individuals gradually migrated and settled in Europe and Asia. This led to the decrease of eumelanin production as the sun was less intense, resulting in the different range of skin color.
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