What is the leading theory on the origin of the red hair gene?
Upvote:7
The question as currently posed isn't directly answerable because it is based on overly simplistic assumptions about how genetics work.
The presence of red hair doesn't always indicate the presence of a specific gene or vice versa. About 80% of people with red hair have a variant of MC1R, the so-called "ginger gene". This gene is much older than humans and regulates pigmentation in a wide range of other mammals. It is also important to understand that there are many variants of this gene which may or may not be associated with red hair.
At the level of haplogroups and subclades rather than any particular gene, we can infer complex patterns of population mixture in Europe over recent centuries. Here's an interesting map of how haplogroups are thought to have moved through Europe over time:
In sum "the ginger gene" definitely did not originate in the Celtic or Nordic region and then move from one to the other. Specific variations of it inhereted from Germanic populations may have become more prevelant over time, but if so, this would have happened indepently in each of the two areas.
More post
- 📝 What was the technology in pre-war traffic recorders?
- 📝 Why did Stalin exile Trotsky instead of killing or imprisoning him?
- 📝 Who was Chief Poking Fire?
- 📝 What’s this odd hat/crown and is it related to Baal?
- 📝 Why were some German conquered territories (eg: Poland) referred to as 'Generalgouvernement'?
- 📝 How is historical "average calorie consumption" data from eighty years ago estimated?
- 📝 How do they prove adultery before video/digital evidence was available?
- 📝 When was the first known international call between two heads of state or government?
- 📝 Nazi Germany's secret service SD was first called Ic-Dienst, what does "Ic" stand for?
- 📝 How were the Bulgarians regarded by the Nazis during World War II?
- 📝 What effect did tanks have on warfare strategies upon their introduction?
- 📝 Was the use of captured tanks an effective strategy for Germany?
- 📝 What was the image of Jhwh before it was almost erased from history?
- 📝 Slave owners mobbed and murdered?
- 📝 How did Raphael paint halos?
- 📝 Why did the Social Gospel movement of the early 1900's fail to reach the working class?
- 📝 Was the last Japanese surrender after WWII in the 1970s?
- 📝 Where can I find a blank outline of Silk Road routes?
- 📝 Why was Austria given the best chunk in the First Partition of Poland, even while protesting it?
- 📝 Which attempts to create or revise states resulted in action?
- 📝 Why is the Maya civilization not considered one of the cradles of civilization?
- 📝 Do we know how much alcohol Vikings drank?
- 📝 How many unarmed did Che Guevara kill personally or by order?
- 📝 Why did the introduction of European firearms have such an impact on warfare in Africa and the Americas?
- 📝 Was the interior of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople ever covered with mosaic icons?
- 📝 Was it possible to criticize the government without repercussions at the time when the 1st amendment was adopted in the US?
- 📝 Why does the US House of Representatives have a ceremonial mace, but the Senate does not?
- 📝 How long did it take to repair wooden war ships after battle in the 1600's to 1800's?
- 📝 Which historic figure does William Bolitho refer to with "The greatest adventurer that ever lived ended as a nervous, banal millionaire"?
- 📝 How were large sums of money carried/transmitted prior to the 1940s or so?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the leading theory on the origin of the red hair gene?
- 📝 What is the primary source evidence for the theory that the African Ancient Egyptians are not black Africans whose origin is sub-Saharan Africa?
- 📝 What is the origin of 3 meals a day?
- 📝 What is the origin of the stereotype that Polish people lack intelligence?
- 📝 What is the origin of the "wheat and chessboard" legend?
- 📝 What is the origin of the names of planets in Arabic?
- 📝 What is the name of the theory that says an early discovery can stop technological development?
- 📝 What is the origin of the lake tank image that has become a meme?
- 📝 What is the origin of Indian weekday names?
- 📝 What led Extremadurans to take a leading role in the conquest of Spain's territories in the Americas?
- 📝 What is the origin of the rampant lion herald?
- 📝 What is the origin of the American stereotypes about Swedish women?
- 📝 What is the practical origin of the "fasces" icon?
- 📝 What is the origin of the subdivisions of Heaven and Hell?
- 📝 What is the origin of Khans? Is there any link between South Asian Khans and the Mongols?
- 📝 What is the name of the theory opposite to the Great Man theory?
- 📝 What is the origin of this coin? Willem WRL
- 📝 What is the origin of this pre-industrial naval depiction
- 📝 What is the most widely accepted theory on the ancient "Sea Peoples"?
- 📝 What is the source of the error regarding the origin of the number zero?
- 📝 What is the origin of the English Ship Building Philosophy?
- 📝 What is the origin of currency signs being placed before the numerical value?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Flower of Life symbol?
- 📝 What is the origin of the Scythians?
- 📝 What are the red and white sectors of The Tower of Babel (Rotterdam)?
- 📝 What is the origin of straight municipal boundary line in NJ?
- 📝 What is the origin of Americans sometimes refering to the Second World War "the Good War"?
- 📝 What is the true origin of Capri's "Scala Fenicia" ("Phoenician Steps")?
- 📝 What was the origin of the Classical Antiquity culture?
- 📝 What evidence support the theory that the killing of unwanted children was practiced in ancient Athens?