This is too good not to share.
Scientists at Oxford University believe that the so-called ginger gene, which is responsible for red hair, fair skin and freckles, might be up to 100,000 years old. A 2001 discovery indicates that the gene possibly originated in – dun dun dun – the Neanderthal man.
Yeah, Neanderthals had red hair. How did I not know that? Professor L. sure didn’t mention that one in Anthropology 100.
For those of you who didn’t take that highly... interesting... class (or who memorized everything for the exam and forgot it the next day like me), Neanderthals are thought to have been a less intelligent species than modern man, Homo sapiens. They were taller and stockier, but had shorter limbs, broader faces and noses, receding chins and low foreheads. Language-wise, they functioned at the level of your lovable local two-year-old. They settled down and made themselves comfy in Europe about 300,000 years ago, but 260,000 years later, a wave of new folks (our ancestor, Cro-Magnon Man) jaunted over from Africa and the two species co-existed happily for 10,000 years. Pretty happily, all right. The Oxford research, presented at a London conference of the Human Genome Organization back in ‘01, implies that the two species must have interbred for the ginger gene to survive. Neanderthals were hotties!
Some scientists believe Neanderthals were ultra-humans, able to adapt to climate extremes. They did survive for 272,000 years before the bigger-brained Cro-Magnons got cranky and decided they didn’t want to share the resources anymore.
My favorite part of the whole thing is how paranoid the scientists are that redheads will be insulted at the Neanderthal link.
Me no offended. Me, redhead. Me have super-human gene!
PS. If you don't like this creation myth, my roommate suggested that redheads were originally born out of the ground as carrots. Hey, your guess is as good as mine.
Scientists at Oxford University believe that the so-called ginger gene, which is responsible for red hair, fair skin and freckles, might be up to 100,000 years old. A 2001 discovery indicates that the gene possibly originated in – dun dun dun – the Neanderthal man.
Yeah, Neanderthals had red hair. How did I not know that? Professor L. sure didn’t mention that one in Anthropology 100.
For those of you who didn’t take that highly... interesting... class (or who memorized everything for the exam and forgot it the next day like me), Neanderthals are thought to have been a less intelligent species than modern man, Homo sapiens. They were taller and stockier, but had shorter limbs, broader faces and noses, receding chins and low foreheads. Language-wise, they functioned at the level of your lovable local two-year-old. They settled down and made themselves comfy in Europe about 300,000 years ago, but 260,000 years later, a wave of new folks (our ancestor, Cro-Magnon Man) jaunted over from Africa and the two species co-existed happily for 10,000 years. Pretty happily, all right. The Oxford research, presented at a London conference of the Human Genome Organization back in ‘01, implies that the two species must have interbred for the ginger gene to survive. Neanderthals were hotties!
Some scientists believe Neanderthals were ultra-humans, able to adapt to climate extremes. They did survive for 272,000 years before the bigger-brained Cro-Magnons got cranky and decided they didn’t want to share the resources anymore.
My favorite part of the whole thing is how paranoid the scientists are that redheads will be insulted at the Neanderthal link.
Me no offended. Me, redhead. Me have super-human gene!
PS. If you don't like this creation myth, my roommate suggested that redheads were originally born out of the ground as carrots. Hey, your guess is as good as mine.
hey, I was just surfing the internet tonight and I'm usually annoyed by blogposts. However, tonight I was pleasantly surprised by your wit which is mixed with your amazing intellect! I really enjoyed this post, please keep up the blog and I will be PLEASED to continue reviewing your write-ups.
ReplyDeleteGINGERS FOR LIFE!!!!!
I am inspired by your ginger skills! I promise to never kick a ginger ever again!
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog. I think Gingers are the way of the future. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteActually, Neanderthals had a LARGER cranial capacity than modern humans, and are theorized to be of HIGHER intelligence. The only reason they couldn't compete is because their speech abilities were physically inferior.
ReplyDeleteSo bask in the glory... Gingers really are super-human! :)
haha, shared it on fb. btw, i'm from the hutsul carpathians (a bit of northern romania) and western ukraine and here are a lot of redheads. it generated also sayings and jokes in the neighbouring romanian towns, where we go on market days. i think the percentual of redheads among ukrainian carpathian inhabitants could even beat the ones in scotland (13%), ireland (10%) and udmurtia (19%) :) so, do we have some celtic dna? or maybe ugric? :D redheads are common among germanic peoples too, i guess
ReplyDeletei love gingers because i am one
ReplyDelete