Lucotte et al. A decreasing gradient of 374F allele frequencies in the skin pigmentation gene SLC45A2, from the north of West Europe to North Africa.
Biochem Genet. 2010 Feb;48(1-2):26-33.
The 374F isofrequency values in West Europe and North Africa (Fig. 1) decrease regularly with latitude, from the north of West Europe to North Africa. Higher 374F frequency values were observed in Denmark, England, Belgium, the north of France, Germany, Switzerland, and the north of Italy; medium 374F frequency values were observed in the south of France, Portugal, Spain, Corsica, Italy, Sardinia, and Sicily. The lowest 374F frequency values were observed in the south of Spain and North Africa.
6 comments:
This is very interesting. However, I think that there are still fairly significant differences in skin pigmentation within the area of highest 374F frequency values. For example, the southern Germans are darker than the northern Germans and the western portions of Britain are darker than the eastern portions of Britain. In addition, the Scandinavians are fairer than both the British and the Germans. And within Scandinavia itself the Swedes and Norwegians are probably somewhat fairer than the Danes.
Nordicist,
Several other alleles are known to affect skin pigmentation.
As for variation in skin color within northern Europe, I don't have any hard data on hand. Your assessment may be more or less correct if you're referring to the frequency of noticeably dark (by Northern European standards) complexions, but I believe very light skin (due to MC1R variants) is also more common in the British Isles than in Scandinavia.
“Several other alleles are known to affect skin pigmentation.”
I thought so. Thanks for the clarification.
“As for variation in skin color within northern Europe, I don't have any hard data on hand.”
I’ve never really been able to find any hard data on skin color variation within northern Europe either. Unfortunately, I don’t think that anyone has ever studied it in detail. I would have thought that there would have been quite a bit of information on this subject available. However, thus far the best information on northern European skin color variation that I’ve ever come across was in Carleton Coon’s The Races of Europe.
“Your assessment may be more or less correct if you're referring to the frequency of noticeably dark (by Northern European standards) complexions”
Yes, that’s what I was referring to. I was only saying that you see a few more swarthy complexions in southern Germany than in northern Germany, to take one example. But I wasn’t saying that all southern Germans are darker than northern Germans (if that’s what you were afraid that I might have been implying).
“but I believe very light skin (due to MC1R variants) is also more common in the British Isles than in Scandinavia.”
So you are saying that because of MC1R variants very light skin is actually more common in the British Isles than in Scandinavia despite the fact that noticeably dark skin (by northern European standards) is also more common there as well? I would definitely like to hear more about this if you have the time.
Nordicist,
I'm talking about redhead-type skin.
Nordicist is pulling shit out of his ass. If you have no proof or data, shut up.
I love the deranged people (like the anonymous poster above me) who troll the comment threads of internet blogs looking for ways to vent their anger and frustration at not being able to get out of their parents’ basements.
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