The Evolutionary History of Human Skin Pigmentation

• Published in: Journal of molecular evolution Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 77 - 87
• Main Author: Rocha, Jorge
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptation, Physiological - genetics; Adaptation, Physiological - physiology; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Biological Evolution; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cell Biology; Color; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionary genetics; Genes; Genetic Variation - genetics; Hair; Humans; Hypotheses; Life Sciences; Microbiology; Natural selection; Phenotype; Photodegradation; Pigmentation; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Sciences; Radiation; Review; Selection, Genetic - genetics; Skin; Skin cancer; Skin pigmentation; Skin Pigmentation - genetics; Skin Pigmentation - physiology; Vitamin B; Vitamin D; Evolution; Skin pigmentation; Complex traits; Natural selection
• ISSN: 0022-2844; 1432-1432; 1432-1432
• DOI: 10.1007/s00239-019-09902-7

Skin pigmentation is a complex, conspicuous, highly variable human trait that exhibits a remarkable correlation with latitude. The evolutionary history and genetic basis of skin color variation has been the subject of intense research in the last years. This article reviews the major hypotheses explaining skin color diversity and explores the implications of recent findings about the genes associated with skin pigmentation for understanding the evolutionary forces that have shaped the current patterns of skin color variation. A major aspect of these findings is that the genetic basis of skin color is less simple than previously thought and that geographic variation in skin pigmentation was influenced by the concerted action of different types of natural selection, rather than just by selective sweeps in a few key genes.