Red hair only occurs in less than 2% of the human population. None of my family has red hair.
No one in my family has red hair either. Is it true northern Europeans have the most red hair?
It is true that people of northern or western Europe have a higher occurrence of people with red hair.
I wonder how that came to be. Perhaps they had an evolutionary advantage of having red hair.
Apparently it's a genetic thing where people with two copies of a recessive allele on a certain chromosome produces a different version of the MC1R protein which must produce red hair.
Oh, I see. That explains the relative rarity of gingers. It does seem that redhead families all have red hair.
by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin, it is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye color, freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light.
Cultural reactions to red hair have varied from ridicule to admiration with many common stereotypes in existence regarding redheads. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510.
Geographic distribution.
Geographic distribution Modern.
Geographic distribution Modern Northern and Western Europe.
Red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of
valerian) colors.
In science and nature Hair color.
Red hair occurs naturally on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently (2–6%) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations. Red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.
Red hair varies from a deep burgundy through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin (