Posted on 01/26/2014 9:44:28 PM PST by Pharmboy
Full headline: Is this the first man with blue eyes? Experts astonished that 7,000-year-old DNA reveals caveman with African and European genes Remains discovered 5000ft up mountains of north-west Spain
Findings suggest racial transformation happened later than thought
Man, dubbed La Brana 1, also shows similarity to Scandinavian DNA
His piercing blue eyes are in striking contrast to his dark complexion and hair. It means this 7,000-year-old caveman holds the clue to man’s genetic evolution. His remains were discovered 5,000ft up in the mountains of north-west Spain in 2006. Experts were astonished to find the ancient hunter-gatherer, given the name La Brana 1, had a combination of African and European genes. Results from an analysis of DNA taken from a tooth show he had dark – possibly black – hair and skin with deep blue eyes, the online edition of the journal Nature reports. The mixture of African and European traits implies that the racial transformation of modern humans was still in progress long after they left Africa, with changes in eye colour coming before alterations in skin tone. Study leader Professor Carles Lalueza-Fox, of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, said: ‘The biggest surprise was to discover that this individual possessed African versions in the genes that determine the light pigmentation of the current Europeans. 'Even more surprising was to find that he possessed the genetic variations that produce blue eyes.’ La Brana 1 shows genetic similarities to Scandinavians and also shared a common ancestor with people who lived in Siberia more than 20,000 years ago.
Genetic clues: The Stone Age caveman had black hair, dark skin and blue eyes contrary to given understanding of racial transformation
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“Newman..he had the best blue eyes in the world.”
Well, equal to him, and Newman did have beautiful blue eyes, were Peter O’Toole’s ice blue eyes. As an aside, Gerard Butler is an exceedingly nice looking man with beautiful eyes also.
My whole family on all sides have bright blue eyes.
But, I've Never Been To Spain
“He did play in one of those period rolls, but I’m not sure if he did play the roll of Attila the Hun or not.”
Yes, Gerard Butler did play Attila the Hun, and did a great job of it. He also sings and had a band. He starred in the movie version of Phantom of the Opera also (he was the Phantom). He sings very well.
The Iberian Peninsula is a logical meeting-place for darker-skinned Africans and European types. This was, after all, only around 7,000 years ago.
The more we think we know, the more we know we DON’T know.
People have always been portable. It is not surprising that race mixing was around thousands of years ago. But a one-corpse sample is too small from which to draw an overall conclusion.
Seems those brutish cavemen always had dark skin while the more “developed” man was fair of skin and fine of feature.
But baby blues?
Or maybe he was simply a result of natural gene mutation caused by early exposure to gamma radiation from a spider bite. Or am I getting the Hulk and the X-Men and Spiderman combined and then flipped backwards in time by H. G. Wells? I can truthfully say that my explanation has a degree of scientific merit un-matched by everything else I’ve read.
“...from looking at his genes not his bones.”
Ah Ha! Ok, that makes sense, thank you.
Yeah, I’m not really sure what he was driving at either. Politically he’s really a dope. I don’t remember him being that way years ago, but we probably never talked about politics in our 20s.
Really ya’ll, the important question, the BURNING
question is did he have a gay gene??? /s
It was literary license meant in a metaphorical sense — he was among the first, or his tribe was among the first.
It states right in the article that they tested intact DNA from the guy’s tooth and he had the genetic markers for blue eyes.
Liberals are dense.
Thanks for the pings.
You’re welcome.
He isn’t the first man with blue eyes. That gene is around 40,000 years old.
Newman had beautiful blue eyes, but Pope John Paul II had the bluest, most piercing, eyes I’ve ever seen. His eyes were kindly, but they looked right into your heart.
Thank you FlagLady47. I appreciate the mention.
I didn’t realize that there was a “piercing blue eyes” gene
&&&
I was wondering about that, as well....
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