Internet Nomad
✪𝕰𝖘𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖈 𝕬𝖒𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖆𝖈✪
Why do the Somali have such thin bodies and large foreheads? This physical type is often explained as an adaptation to desert heat, but occurs in no other desert population outside Africa. The real culprit is milk anemia, a disease common in pastoralists and, once, in Europeans.
There are other African peoples, all pastoralists, that share many aspects of the Somali “look”. The type goes by many names: Hamitic, Cushitic, Ethiopid. Because they are often tall, the Belgian anthropologist Jean Hiernaux categorized them as “Elongated African".
The “F”s on Hiernaux’s map stand for Fulani, another pastoralist people. The Fulani have a striking physical resemblance to East African herders; many I think, could pass as Somali. There is though no close genetic link between them, something Hiernaux guessed 60 years ago.
Early European explorers were so impressed with the Fulani (and charmed by the good looks of their women) that they assumed they were either mostly Caucasian or related to East Africans. Neither is true: Fulani are 3/4th West African. The "Somali" type has evolved more than once.
Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification
Some old anthropologists classified the Fulani and Somali as part of the same race, called “Ethiopoid”, as here on the great Human Phenotypes site. What made this mistake understandable was that the Fulani and Somali share not only a build but a coloring: a kind of chocolate red.
When the Turkana first encountered the Maasai, Rendille, and Borana they called them "red people". JR Wilson-Haffenden's book on the Fulani is subtitled "Red Men of Nigeria". The skin color of the Somali has been called bronze, copper, caramel.
The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments.
The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments.
The difficulty with this explanation is that there are other desert peoples outside Africa and none look Somali. The Sonoran Desert is 15+ degrees warmer than Mogadishu in the summer and yet its indigenous peoples, like the Cochimi, do not have bulging foreheads or petite bodies.
What really separates our Red Africans from other desert peoples is their dependance on domestic animals. African pastoralists subsist on a diet very rich in milk, so much so that the Tuareg, Fulani, Tutsi, and Beja have rates of lactose tolerance only exceeded by west Europeans.
(To be Continued)
![Why do the Somali have such thin bodies and large foreheads? This physical type is often explained as an adaptation to desert heat, but occurs in no other desert population outside Africa. The real culprit is milk anemia, a disease common in pastoralists and, once, in Europeans. Why do the Somali have such thin bodies and large foreheads? This physical type is often explained as an adaptation to desert heat, but occurs in no other desert population outside Africa. The real culprit is milk anemia, a disease common in pastoralists and, once, in Europeans.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzZTEMXIAEqBX5.png&hash=23bcb0f6defd0881da0d07c86fd702d0)
There are other African peoples, all pastoralists, that share many aspects of the Somali “look”. The type goes by many names: Hamitic, Cushitic, Ethiopid. Because they are often tall, the Belgian anthropologist Jean Hiernaux categorized them as “Elongated African".
![There are other African peoples, all pastoralists, that share many aspects of the Somali “look”. The type goes by many names: Hamitic, Cushitic, Ethiopid. Because they are often tall, the Belgian anthropologist Jean Hiernaux categorized them as “Elongated African. There are other African peoples, all pastoralists, that share many aspects of the Somali “look”. The type goes by many names: Hamitic, Cushitic, Ethiopid. Because they are often tall, the Belgian anthropologist Jean Hiernaux categorized them as “Elongated African.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzZquvWAAA6QR1.png&hash=dfc568a6706ce0f37df1bfea6234e105)
The “F”s on Hiernaux’s map stand for Fulani, another pastoralist people. The Fulani have a striking physical resemblance to East African herders; many I think, could pass as Somali. There is though no close genetic link between them, something Hiernaux guessed 60 years ago.
![The “F”s on Hiernaux’s map stand for Fulani, another pastoralist people. The Fulani have a striking physical resemblance to East African herders; many I think, could pass as Somali. There is though no close genetic link between them, something Hiernaux guessed 60 years ago. The “F”s on Hiernaux’s map stand for Fulani, another pastoralist people. The Fulani have a striking physical resemblance to East African herders; many I think, could pass as Somali. There is though no close genetic link between them, something Hiernaux guessed 60 years ago.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzaEXPW0AA-mhi.png&hash=f079ac30ffffa87b2f8a4dcc9ae49a83)
Early European explorers were so impressed with the Fulani (and charmed by the good looks of their women) that they assumed they were either mostly Caucasian or related to East Africans. Neither is true: Fulani are 3/4th West African. The "Somali" type has evolved more than once.
![Early European explorers were so impressed with the Fulani (and charmed by the good looks of their women) that they assumed they were either mostly Caucasian or related to East Africans. Neither is true: Fulani are 3/4th West African. The Somali type has evolved more than once. Early European explorers were so impressed with the Fulani (and charmed by the good looks of their women) that they assumed they were either mostly Caucasian or related to East Africans. Neither is true: Fulani are 3/4th West African. The Somali type has evolved more than once.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzaOfrXkAE6svz.png&hash=c2bd15f44ce50a11a3c2f152b383f45b)
Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification
![Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzaW5hWAAAdAPl.png&hash=47d3a47b2cda52c14e2a352be41801e5)
![Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification Maybe more than twice. In the hottest Saharan depths live the Tuareg, another pastoralist people. They are mostly North African by descent, but all the same Carleton Coon thought the closest physical comparison to be found was with the Somali. This keeps happening: Somalification](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzaakpXEAEAJ3x.png&hash=ac2517269c2a525ede1608a7822b2682)
Some old anthropologists classified the Fulani and Somali as part of the same race, called “Ethiopoid”, as here on the great Human Phenotypes site. What made this mistake understandable was that the Fulani and Somali share not only a build but a coloring: a kind of chocolate red.
![Some old anthropologists classified the Fulani and Somali as part of the same race, called “Ethiopoid”, as here on the great Human Phenotypes site. What made this mistake understandable was that the Fulani and Somali share not only a build but a coloring: a kind of chocolate red. Some old anthropologists classified the Fulani and Somali as part of the same race, called “Ethiopoid”, as here on the great Human Phenotypes site. What made this mistake understandable was that the Fulani and Somali share not only a build but a coloring: a kind of chocolate red.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzaiEyXgAAhVrU.jpg&hash=42fe1902fe45d35ff68fb3a741202954)
When the Turkana first encountered the Maasai, Rendille, and Borana they called them "red people". JR Wilson-Haffenden's book on the Fulani is subtitled "Red Men of Nigeria". The skin color of the Somali has been called bronze, copper, caramel.
![When the Turkana first encountered the Maasai, Rendille, and Borana they called them red people. JR Wilson-Haffenden's book on the Fulani is subtitled Red Men of Nigeria. The skin color of the Somali has been called bronze, copper, caramel. When the Turkana first encountered the Maasai, Rendille, and Borana they called them red people. JR Wilson-Haffenden's book on the Fulani is subtitled Red Men of Nigeria. The skin color of the Somali has been called bronze, copper, caramel.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCza3KUWEAAHNoV.png&hash=dc7922c403f1e3f5de697239f77e8b96)
The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments.
![The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments. The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCza9yfXYAEK9qI.png&hash=4a384c9efa70a0be0aa4586a57616180)
![The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments. The few anthropologists who have studied the issue have all come to the same conclusion: the lean physical type of the “Red Africans” is an adaptation to desert heat. Jean Hiernaux theorized that there are two types of Black African: those adapted to wet and dry environments.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzbBQVW8AARuRU.png&hash=1dca44a098452bc9adec3a89e54cfc8d)
The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments.
![The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments. The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzbLktWwAEfaT8.png&hash=fc0c011b9f3c790385101dbb231d4348)
![The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments. The biophysicist Paul Baker theorized that desert heat imposes a higher degree of stress on the body that typical African wet heat does. World War II-era studies of heat stroke deaths seem to show that lean men are less likely to perish in these environments.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzbNf2WEAAjgaC.png&hash=afffba0603d7157c196efc0a386aa8cc)
The difficulty with this explanation is that there are other desert peoples outside Africa and none look Somali. The Sonoran Desert is 15+ degrees warmer than Mogadishu in the summer and yet its indigenous peoples, like the Cochimi, do not have bulging foreheads or petite bodies.
![The difficulty with this explanation is that there are other desert peoples outside Africa and none look Somali. The Sonoran Desert is 15+ degrees warmer than Mogadishu in the summer and yet its indigenous peoples, like the Cochimi, do not have bulging foreheads or petite bodies. The difficulty with this explanation is that there are other desert peoples outside Africa and none look Somali. The Sonoran Desert is 15+ degrees warmer than Mogadishu in the summer and yet its indigenous peoples, like the Cochimi, do not have bulging foreheads or petite bodies.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzbYa9XMAA4I7j.jpg&hash=7ffdc89baf07c557ecc179ed2516e629)
What really separates our Red Africans from other desert peoples is their dependance on domestic animals. African pastoralists subsist on a diet very rich in milk, so much so that the Tuareg, Fulani, Tutsi, and Beja have rates of lactose tolerance only exceeded by west Europeans.
![What really separates our Red Africans from other desert peoples is their dependance on domestic animals. African pastoralists subsist on a diet very rich in milk, so much so that the Tuareg, Fulani, Tutsi, and Beja have rates of lactose tolerance only exceeded by west Europeans. What really separates our Red Africans from other desert peoples is their dependance on domestic animals. African pastoralists subsist on a diet very rich in milk, so much so that the Tuareg, Fulani, Tutsi, and Beja have rates of lactose tolerance only exceeded by west Europeans.](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FGCzbgFaW4AAgZyS.jpg&hash=ab3eb8a049f8c91305315e773f503fe5)
(To be Continued)