[A. Pole]

Well, SA, I'll tell ya this: U, my cousin-in-law, is a Kurdish Jew. Great guy--love him. But he is several shades darker than all the Ashkenazi Jews I know. This doesn't jibe with the evident lack of intermarriage that they talk about among the Ashkenazi. Oh well...I guess I still have to believe the genes.

Pigmentation can change relatively fast without admixture of foreign genes. After a thousand or so years related groups can diverge visibly in their adaptation to the climate and sunshine.

[dennisw]

I have a few small lizards that have *invaded* my house from the outiside. Down here in Florida. In no time flat the lizards develope larger eyes and paler skin. Evolution in action .. and on a fast track!