(Special to The Root) — Skin color is one of our most important biological traits. Its many shades evolved as humans moved far and wide into regions with different intensities of sunlight. Skin color ...

The textbook assumption is that when the first modern humans arrived in Europe, around 45,000 years ago, they quickly evolved pale skin to adapt to the region’s dimmer sunlight relative to Africa. The ...

Biology -- Skin's natural palette -- Original skin -- Out of the tropics -- Skin color in the modern world -- Shades of sex -- Skin color and health -- Society -- The discriminating primate -- ...