Neanderthals may have been redheads

Some Neanderthals may have had variations in pigmentation that hypothetically could have produced pale skin and red hair similar to that of some modern humans, a European research team has found.

Some Neanderthals -- relatives to modern humans, who lived in Europe and Central Asia approximately 230,000 to 30,000 years ago -- may have had genetic variations that hypothetically could have produced pale skin and red hair, a European research team has found.

Most of what we know about the Neanderthals’ appearance comes from studying their skulls and other fossils. Their hair and skin hasn’t been preserved, but Carles Lalueza-Fox of the University of Barcelona and his colleagues found away around this problem.

The researchers analyzed DNA samples from two Neanderthal specimens from Spain and Italy. They looked specifically at the sequence of the MC1R gene, which helps direct cells to make the pigment melanin.

In modern humans, primarily of European origin, variations in this gene are responsible for red hair and light skin.

The authors identified a new version, or “allele,” of the gene in the two Neanderthal samples. Then, they inserted the Neanderthal gene into cells that were growing in a test tube, to see how it how it affected the production of melanin.

The scientists’ results suggest that the Neanderthal allele seems to have the same effect on melatonin production as the modern ones do. Therefore, it’s conceivable that at least some Neanderthals also had fair skin and red hair.

These findings will be published online by the journal Science, at the Science Express website, on 25 October 2007.

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