Recent Human Evolution Determined
It’s quite easy to spot Asian folks from behind. I always thought they just had shinier black hair than other races, but actually they have thicker hair. As do Native Americans, who originated from Asia. And we also know that some Asian people are more prone to sweating. Well, these are both the result of a single mutant gene that arose not too long ago:
Researchers were able to find a single mutation that produces several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands.
…most East Asian populations had a variant of it called EDAR370A, which studies linked to thicker scalp hair and altered tooth shape in humans.
In order to more fully examine this mutation, Yana Kamberov, one of the researchers, developed a mouse model with the exact mutation of EDAR370A. The researchers found that the mouse exhibited thicker hair, more densely branched mammary glands and an increased number of sweat glands. This prompted the scientists to examine similar traits in human populations. After examining the fingertips of Chinese volunteers who carried the gene, they found that their sweat glands were packed about 15 percent more densely than those of the control population.
Source: Science World Report
Computer models suggest that the variant arose between 13,175 and 39,575 years ago, which fits in well with the notion that Native Americans left Asia approximately 15,000 years ago, when the Ice Age was ending and the Bering Strait become ice-free. The question that still needs to be answered is how these traits are beneficial. I guess thicker hair could have helped during the ice age, but sweat glands?
