8 Mind Blowing Facts About The Human Race

5. Europeans Are White Because Of Vitamin D

Speaking of the staggering physical variations between humans, there's a pretty obvious question we need to address: If we're all descended from black Africans, why are there white people?

Just like it is thought that Asian features developed in response to a colder climate, with smaller features and flatter faces, pale skin is thought by some experts to have evolved in response to the weaker sunlight in the northern climes of Europe.

It's all to do with vitamin D. We make this vital vitamin in our skin when we're exposed to sunlight and, whilst dark skin is good for protecting against the sun's harmful UV rays, it prevents vitamin D production in the watery sunlight of Europe. Vitamin D deficiency cause, amongst other things, a condition called rickets, which can lead to deformation and even death.

This means that light skin could have been evolutionarily selected as those with darker skin were less likely to survive in the weak light.

It is likely that there were a number of evolutionary pressures on the development of lighter skin, but this could have been one of the major contributing factors.