# Original race **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702 "2001-01-12T15:01:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/1 "2001-01-12T15:01:51Z")
If we assume that all races today evolved out of where they settled (eskimos in the cold, dark-skinned people near the equator), what was the original human? Were they dark, then faded? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/2 "2001-01-12T15:07:48Z")
The generally accepted theory is the “Out of Africa” theory, which says that _homo sapiens_ arose in Africa. I’m assuming that they would have had dark skin, as the extra melanin is supposed to protect against sunburn. Then I suppose that as people migrated to other, less sunshine-intensive continents, their skin color would have “faded”. BTW, they don’t like to be called “Eskimo” anymore, which is a derogatory word in an alien Indian language (to them) meaning “eaters of raw meat”. They prefer “Inuit”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/3 "2001-01-12T15:39:44Z")
What **DDG** said regarding the first paragraph. The “fading” helps because Vitamin D is synthesized as a result of sunlight striking the skin. Melanin seems to inhibit that activity, so groups that live where clothing covers more of the body more often have tended to “lose” the amount of melanin that will prevent Vitamin D production. Regarding **DDG** ’s second paragraph: it isn’t that cut and dried. For the most part, the arctic dwellers of eastern North America prefer the term Inuit, however, many groups in the west prefer Eskimo. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/4 "2001-01-12T15:42:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Eskimo. . . is a derogatory word in an alien Indian language (to them) meaning “eaters of raw meat”. This has been debunked: [http://www.landfield.com/faqs/alt-usage-english-faq/](http://www.landfield.com/faqs/alt-usage-english-faq/) BTW, the first race probably did have dark skin. According to Edgar Rice Burroughs, anyway, the First Born race was indeed black. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/5 "2001-01-12T17:04:44Z")
I can confirm the eskimo thing. I’m from Alaska, and every eskimo I ever met refered to themselves as “eskimo”. I know in Canada many refer to themselves as “Inuit”, but in AK they don’t. Maybe this will change, and “Inuit” will start to be the prefered word. But as of today, Alaskan eskimos still use eskimo. But back to the OP. It seems very very very unlikely that the “races” evolved in place separately from _Homo erectus_ or archaic _Homo sapiens_. We’re just too similar. How could each separate population evolve at exactly the same rate and in exactly the same way? No, modern races are almost surely very recent, less than 100,000 years old. But minor things like skin color and hair texture can evolve very quickly so we shouldn’t be surprised. ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/6 "2001-01-13T01:02:41Z")
Lemur, have you been reading about the DNA analysis of the old Australian Mungo Man? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/7 "2001-01-13T01:51:28Z")
Mungo Man does not seem to have left any descedents, so his DNA is rather irrelevant to any discussion of current human diversity. It is interesting how quickly his people reached Australia (if the dating is comfirmed) but at 60,000 years old they still had 10-20,000 years to walk out from Africa (from estimated date of “mitochrondrial Eve”). Plenty of time, even for government work. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/8 "2001-01-13T02:18:29Z")
I recall seeing somewhere that the Bushmen of the Kalihari are genetically different from all of their neighbors, and were thought at one time to be one of the extant oldest races, but new genetic analysis probably brings a different light to that contention. BTW, Aleuts don’t like to be called Eskimo, or Inuit. ---
**Author:** ![warmgun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecccb3/32.png) [@warmgun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/warmgun)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/9 "2001-01-13T03:58:01Z")
Hold on just a second, tomndebb. Evolution happens because of a positive genetic mutated trait. One that would ‘weed out’ the current norm. I don’t hear about a lot of blacks keeling over in, say, NY because they aren’t getting enough vitamin D. I don’t believe the human lifespan at that time was long enough for this to matter. And why the whole body and not just the covered parts. The earth is full of multi-colored lifeforms. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/10 "2001-01-13T04:12:48Z")
Ahem. According to the [Alaska Native Language Center,](http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/inuitoreskimo.html) > [@](#): > > Although the name “Eskimo” is commonly used in Alaska to refer to all Inuit and Yupik people of the world, this name is considered derogatory in many other places because it was given by non-Inuit people and was said to mean “eater of raw meat.” Linguists now believe that “Eskimo” is derived from an Ojibwa word meaning “to net snowshoes.” _However, the people of Canada and Greenland prefer other names._ “Inuit,” meaning “people,” is used in most of Canada, and the language is called “Inuktitut” in eastern Canada although other local designations are used also. The Inuit people of Greenland refer to themselves as “Greenlanders” or “Kalaallit” in their language, which they call “Greenlandic” or “Kalaallisut.” Most Alaskans continue to accept the name “Eskimo,” particularly because “Inuit” refers only to the Inupiat of northern Alaska, the Inuit of Canada, and the Kalaallit of Greenland, and is not a word in the Yupik languages of Alaska and Siberia. [italics mine] Okay, it’s beside the point whether or not it means “eater of raw meat”, and exactly which people one should refer to as “Inuit”. But just because some Native Americans from the Arctic may accept the use of the word “Eskimo” doesn’t mean they like it. Similarly, just because some African-Americans may accept the use of the word “Negro” doesn’t mean they like it, either. So there. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/11 "2001-01-13T04:25:37Z")
From [How Much Vitamin D is Enough?"](http://www.mcmaster.ca/inabis98/atkinson/holick0835/two.html) > [@](#): > > 1. Ages 1 to 18 Years > > Young and growing children require vitamin D for maximal skeleton development and mineralization. The fact that most children are outdoors and exposed to sunlight helps ensure that most children are not deficient in vitamin D (15-18). However, children with _increased melanin pigmentation_ and who receive little sunlight either because they live in an inner city or are institutionalized, are at risk for vitamin D deficiency. Thus, the IOM recommended as a dietary intake for this age group 200 IU/day. However, in the absence of exposure to sunlight, it is reasonable to double this recommendation to 400 IU/day. _italics mine_ The same article mentions the prevalence of rickets in industrial cities prior to the increased supply of (Vitamin D rich) milk for children. Evolution does not require that all changes have a goal. There are a number of peoples who live in temperate zones (and some near the arctic) who have darker skin than Europeans. However, a genetic change that resulted in less melanin would not be as likely to be selected _against_ in the northern climes because the reduced melanin would allow better Vitamin D production. Such a change might propagate because it accompanied other traits that specifically increased chances of survival. Why would only clothed parts of the body lose melanin? Do the genes know when we wear clothes? If a mutation occurred to reduce melanin production, it would tend to occur across the whole of the skin unless a specific feedback could be provided to encourage melanin production to remain high on the face, neck, and hands. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/12 "2001-01-13T04:30:02Z")
This article mentions the Vitamin D hypothesis–as well as objections to that hypothesis: [Human Pigmentation, U. of Indianapolis](http://biology.uindy.edu/Biol345/HUMAN%20STRATEGY/24pigmentation.htm) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/13 "2001-01-13T04:33:00Z")
**DDG** , As I recall, Canada and Greenland (actually Kalalit Nunaat, “Greenland” being a Norse real estate scam) are, indeed, east and Alaska west. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mipsman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mipsman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mipsman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/14 "2001-01-13T08:23:28Z")
Doc, don’t you think Mungo Man is an anatomically modern Hss? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/original-race/49702/15 "2001-01-13T19:20:19Z")
That’s what he seems to be, but as I said he doesn’t seem to have left any descendants (the aborigines migrated to Oz well after his time) and there was still several thousand years between the earliest H. sap sap and his death in Australia. Plenty of time for his people to have moved from Africa and died off.