London - Red hair may be the genetic legacy of Neanderthals...

Planet Save.com ^ | 1/14/05 | Planet Save.com

[IGBT]

London - Red hair may be the genetic legacy of Neanderthals, according to a new study by British scientists.

Researchers at the John Radcliffe Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford were quoted by The Times as saying the so-called "ginger gene" which gives people red hair, fair skin and freckles could be up to 100 000 years old.

They claim that their discovery points to the gene having originated in Neanderthal man who lived in Europe for 200 000 years before Homo sapien settlers, the ancestors of modern man, arrived from Africa about 40 000 years ago.

Rosalind Harding, the research team leader, told The Times: "The gene is certainly older than 50 000 years and it could be as old as 100 000 years.

"An explanation is that it comes from Neanderthals." It is estimated that at least 10 percent of Scots have red hair and a further 40 percent carry the gene responsible, which could account for their once fearsome reputation as fighters.

Neanderthals have been characterised as migrant hunters and violent cannibals who probably ate most of their meat raw. They were taller and stockier than Homo sapiens, but with shorter limbs, bigger faces and noses, receding chins and low foreheads.

The two species overlapped for a period of time and the Oxford research appears to suggests that they must have successfully interbred for the "ginger gene" to survive. Neanderthals became extinct about 28 000 years ago, the last dying out in southern Spain and southwest France. - Sapa-DPA

[johnb838]

There is no marinade or rub that's going to make you people "finger lickin' good".

Perhaps as with varmint, you have to cook human overnight to boil the meanness out.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

It is estimated that at least 10 percent of Scots have red hair and a further 40 percent carry the gene responsible, which could account for their once fearsome reputation as fighters.

Grrrrrr!

The article still doesn't explain the Italian redheads.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

The doctor said she believes that redheads are a distinct and separate race from all other humans. She said they react to medications and anesthesia different than any other races.

Same here. I've had strange drug reactions. My doctor looks at me now and says redheads are weird.

[johnb838]

Well, I read recently that the typical Irish Orangehead was of the Scots-Irish clans, i.e. those that emigrated from Scotland to Ireland. Don't know much about it myself.

[wallcrawlr]

Oh come on. You obviously havent seen Nikki Cox at all.

[elfman2]

Thanks for the full name. Googling that and the word Neanderthal yields this page from their Oxford news letter: Red hair genes 100,000 years old

" It has been widely reported that the gene originated in Neanderthal man. Dr Harding says this just isn't true: 'We have never stated in our research that this gene is Neanderthal, but at the moment I cannot statistically prove that it isn't which is why others have drawn these conclusions.’"

Turn’s out that this whole thread is absolute nonsense. I’m shocked

[Sam Cree]

"It was these Celtic tribes that over time overran and populated a nearly empty (and slowly warming) north European continent, and became the roots of modern Christianity first in Europe, then worldwide."

The above is definitely kind of reminiscent of the King Arthur legends.

[KneelBeforeZod]

I think I watched that movie at that time for just that reason

same here.... she is a "indie movie" producer now supposedly.

[Heatseeker]

Turn’s out that this whole thread is absolute nonsense.

Yes but I consider the pictures posted herein to be valuable paleogenetic research. ;)

[DuncanWaring]

Read the book?

I've read it. I think that Webb takes credit, on behalf of the Scots-Irish, for more than he can really justify.

However, I'd still say it's a very good book and plan on reading it again once it comes back from being loaned out.

[WolfRunnerWoman]

Hmmm...I visited Denmark in the early 1980s and saw more redheads in Copenhagen than I have ever seen in one place.

[UnklGene]

[blam]

Thanks for the ping.

A previous posting four years ago.

Redheads 'Are Neanderthals'

[Red Sea Swimmer]

Everyone knows that red hair is a result of certain celestial factors. The famous wise saying...

"Red sky at night makes shepherd's hair red with delight.
Red sky at morn, shepherds yawn."

sums up the reasons for the prevalence of red hair.

[xroadie]

Has anybody found any more information on the Radcliffe Institute of Molecular Biology? Oxford as an IMB, but with a different name. Could it be that somebody released false information on the internet? Oh perish the thought!!

[The SISU kid]

Ping....

[blam]

"Turns out the real Irish are the Black Irish: Dark featured, but still rather pale skin and rather short."

Okay, I'll buy that. Can you tell me where the real Irish come from then? Does Fomorian ring a bell?

[Mears]

I love red heads too----married one and had 2 of them myself.