The Evolution of Human Skin Colour | BBC Earth Science

Every person is beautiful with any skin color

Nawa/Mexika skin tone ranges from light brown to dark brown, most commonly a bronze like brown. As depicted in their original codices. Maya skin tone ranges from light brown to dark brown, most commonly between medium and dark brown.

2:05 they can call this the "farmer's tan" test

2:39 the difference in my skin color of my body and face is absolutely crazy

It's crazy that the wester. Side of South america has really dark pigment right next to some really light sections. Pretty strong contrast

Also nose and eye shape have evolved to adapt to hot and cold.... people in southern locations in hotter places have flatter and wider noses to act as a cooling system and people in northern colder locations have narrow and longer noses to adapt to cold air acting as a heating system as there is more area the cold air oases to heat before reaching the lungs 👍 THIS IS why we also look different to eachother in different locations 🥳

And then humans, being the silly creatures we are, used our brains to decide that these different pigmentations determine which human is more valuable

Inuits are quite dark and live in the far north, which is not shown in the map. There is a piece missing to this explanation: agriculture. If you hunt and therefor eat a lot of d-vitamin rich fish and meats, you don't need the uv-light for d-vitamin production.

1:11 love how there's just a random dot of light skin on the Nigeria-Cameroon border

No way this comment section is this civilised 😅

I wish the people in this comment section could run all global debates. I have never felt so calm hearing people's accurate & scientific values while embracing the beauty of our species!

I believe our hair texture on our head also follows similar if not same process. The afro/kinky hair text helps sheild from the sun and regulate the UV intake, and the straight/thin hair helps absorb enough sun. There is something magical about all of us walking this beautiful planet.

It's not only the skin colour though.
Divergent evolution, separation by by thousands of miles, different climate, different food over many many generations can create differences that are not limited to skin colour. That's why different races/ethnicities can be prone to different genetic disorders for example.

It is so obvious that human skin colour is the same colour that exists on a spectrum from light to dark.

I'm part Filipino and Italian. Sometimes, I am very white and other times very brown.

Nose also adapted to climate as well right? In hot area human developed wide, and narrow shape in cold area. Body hair as well

Human skin tone is one of the clearest examples of evolution in action. As our ancestors migrated to different parts of the world, varying levels of sunlight shaped the amount of melanin their skin produced. In regions with intense UV radiation, darker skin evolved to protect against sun damage and preserve essential nutrients like folate, while in areas with weaker sunlight, lighter skin helped the body produce enough vitamin D. This remarkable adaptation highlights how human diversity reflects our species' ability to thrive in different environments, reminding us that skin color is a natural response to geography and climate rather than a marker of biological difference.

There's also temperature to consider. In the region where humans originated, it was generally warm enough year-round to be outside naked for most of the day. Outside of the tropics, we needed clothing and shelter to stay warm. So in addition to less UV radiation at those latitudes, we were also limiting our access to what little UV was available in the first place.

I wish I hadn’t grown up when tanning was cool. My skin would probably be in much better shape if I’d ignored people telling me I was too pale

Atleast the majority of people in this comment section are actual educated people with working brains, better than 99% of the comment sections on YouTube 😂