A traveler who has arrived in Melanesia can be truly shocked: only here you can meet a large number of dark-skinned people with blond hair. Scientists have long tried to figure out the reason for such an atypical appearance. Among the versions, heredity was also considered, supposedly the local residents got the white hair from the European colonizers.
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
Melanesia is an island group in the Pacific Ocean, which includes New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu and other states. Among the inhabitants of the islands, every tenth is blond. Given that the population of Melanesians is about half a million, the phenomenon can be called typical and widespread. Interestingly, along with blond hair, the Melanesians inherited from their ancestors pitch-dark skin.
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
The main version that genetic scientists have put forward for several years was heredity. They remembered that the British and Germans lived on the islands in the 19th and 20th centuries, they grew coconut plantations here.
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
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However, recent research has shown that genetic mutations are the real cause. The reasons for the mutation have not yet been established, a quarter of the population is carriers of the mutated gene, but only 10% of the population are born blond, since the gene is recessive. It is interesting that nowhere in the world such a mutation is found anymore, but it arose from 5 to 30 thousand years ago. Interestingly, scientists explain a large number of blondes by the fact that blond women are more attractive to men, and most often marriages are concluded with them.
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia
Black blondes are unusual inhabitants of Melanesia