Those With This Eye Color Have a Distinct Advantage at Doing a Particular Activity
Why do humans have different eye colors? And does one’s eye color have an evolutionary advantage? These are questions scientists have been trying to figure out for years, but now anthropologists say that lighter eyes might actually have an edge under certain conditions.
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00:00 Why do humans have different eye colors?
00:05 And does one color have an evolutionary advantage?
00:08 These are questions scientists have been trying to figure out for decades.
00:12 But now, anthropologists say, lighter eyes might actually have an edge under certain
00:16 conditions.
00:17 Researchers conducted 30-second eye tests, all while dimming the lights incrementally,
00:21 for both brown and blue-eyed participants.
00:23 They found that those with blue eyes were able to read under significantly darker conditions,
00:28 at just 0.7 lux.
00:29 Meanwhile, those with brown eyes tapped out once the light levels fell to just 0.82 lux.
00:34 So why might this be of evolutionary benefit?
00:36 Well, that's still unclear.
00:38 But the researchers say their best guess is that it provided some advantage during the
00:41 low-light months of winter, as mankind moved north, out of Africa.
00:45 Perhaps blue-eyed people were able to hunt for longer, or work longer days next to dimly
00:49 lit campfires.
00:50 Experts warn that this not-yet-peer-reviewed study is still incomplete, and that the photo-processing
00:55 parts of everyone's eyes are the same, regardless of iris color.
00:58 Still, if the results are sound, it shines a light on how such a small mutation can affect
01:03 the course of human history.
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