Is skin pigmentation really a form of camouflage in people?

Question

Think of it people that adapted to colder climates are white and blend in better if they are naked in a snow storm I know I would. And in the deepest jungles of Africa the darker skin blends in better with the shadows so could it be really our skin trying to adapt to environmental factors?

Answer 1

Couldn't of said it better myself.........

Answer 2

lol That would be great wouldn't it? I'd have to move somewhere that's all purple, since that's my fav color. :)

Answer 3

The closer to the equator you live, the darker your skin will be.

Answer 4

I think it is more of an adaptation to the climate conditions. Dark skin has more helpful sun protection in it and fair skin in places that are cooler and more cloudy. So, over time, maybe we developed certain things due to weather and adaptation to it.

Answer 5

No, it's none of these ideas about blending in or camouflage.  It has to do with sunlight and body chemistry. The body uses sunlight to make a type of vitamin D, which helps regulate calcium levels, crucial to metabolic processes, bone building and food absorption.  Without sunlight, these processes are impaired.  But too much sunlight isn't good and neither is too little.  Skin pigmentation regulates how much sunlight is absorbed by the skin.  Dark pigmentation blocks sunlight and light pigmentation allows sunlight to penetrate the skin.  The last factor to notice in answering your question is the amount of sunlight that strikes the Earth's surface.  At the equator, there are 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night all year long.  As you move north or south from there, days become shorter and shorter in winter the farther north (or south) that you go.  So an unhealthy situation arises in winter -- as far as vitamin D production goes -- for people who live far from the equator.

Now consider the distribution of light-skinned people in the world and dark-skinned people in the world.  You should notice that light-skinned peoples are northerners and dark-skinned peoples are more equatorial.  Fewer land masses are south of the equator than to the north.  But if there were, and they were connected to allow easy migrations -- in the case of northern Europe being connected to Africa and south Asia -- then you'd expect people from there to be light skinned, too.

Answer 6

Interesting observation to say the least. You could say the same for multi-racial people who can blend in with different ethnic group and pass for another race all together..

Answer 7

Actually the reason that people in colder regions developed lighter pigment was because there wasn't a lot of sun.

In africa there are a lot of places with a lot of sun and the darker pigment makes their skin less susseptable to the harmful rays. Melanin (the substance that makes skin dark) is a natural sunblock. This is what is we call a tan. Sun light makes the cells that create melanin create more causing the skin to be darker as a natural response to the burning of your skin by the sun.

Edit: Also the sun provides us with a couple of natural and needed nutrients. Vitamin D to help us absorb calcium, and helps us produce Karotin ( a waxy substance produced in the skin that fills the cells as they move towards the outside of the body. Your outside skin cells have no innards like a neucleus, those are all shed and replaced with karotin, gives us a water tight skin, pores are where water and other liquids are absorbed, and helps protect against bacteria and other would be invaders), The sun also provides Vitamin K which is important for the production of Dopamine a vital brain chemical that helps us feel good, and helps prevent things like depression.

Just a side note... For those who suffer depression, you can lower your symptoms by doing 2 things naturally (I have it so I know how well it works for some people) 1, go out into the sun for about 1/2 hour each day with minimal sunscreen on, absorb the good things the sun has to offer (I hate that we have villified the sun, if you get moderate doses it really helps with a lot of things) and 2 go out and excersise, this raises your dopamine levels which releases endorphins which make you happy.

Now there are many other good things that the sun can do for us but I don't want to blog down your answers list any more than I have.

Answer 8

Another way to think of it... cooler climates have a lot less sun and people usualy have lighter complexions, just like the warmer climates with a lot of sun have people with darker complexions. So yeah i think it could be our skin adapting to our surroundings, maybe not necessarly for camouflage.

Answer 9

Not exactly; it's just the melanin, if there is more sunlight, your skin becomes darker, and when it becomes cold your skin becomes lighter. And when many generations have passed under that certain environment, it becomes hereditary as well. Just like black people living in Europe and North America, and white people living in Southern Africa.

Answer 10

I have never heard pigmentation described in your way.  Usually the entire body, including hair adapts as a protection for the climate in which the person is living.  Dark skin is a sun screen.  White skin allows the Sun's vitamin D to penetrate.

Answer 11

Right and Eskimos just have a great tan

Answer 12

Yes, your right.  People in Africa are out in the sun more, and there skin is darker, for one, so they don't get sun burnt.

And in colder places, the sun is hidden by clouds, there for they don't get much sun causing them to be light skinned.

And just for the record, I would love to see you naked in the snow.  For that matter, anywhere.

Answer 13

I think so too, however that doesn't explain why our bone structures are different.

Answer 14

no, skin pigmentation is based on melanin production in the human body.  Melanin is our bodies way to protect our skin from the sun.  The closer you live to the sun (mid latitude regions like Africa) your melanin production is higher and you have darker skin.  The further away you live from the sun the less your body produces melanin and you have lighter skin.

Its a form of adaptation.  Our bodies are protecting itself.