pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Human Commercial Models' Eye Colour Shows Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection - PubMed

  • ️Fri Jan 01 2016

Comparative Study

Human Commercial Models' Eye Colour Shows Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection

Isabela Rodrigues Nogueira Forti et al. PLoS One. 2016.

Abstract

In this study we investigated the eye colour of human commercial models registered in the UK (400 female and 400 male) and Brazil (400 female and 400 male) to test the hypothesis that model eye colour frequency was the result of negative frequency-dependent selection. The eye colours of the models were classified as: blue, brown or intermediate. Chi-square analyses of data for countries separated by sex showed that in the United Kingdom brown eyes and intermediate colours were significantly more frequent than expected in comparison to the general United Kingdom population (P<0.001). In Brazil, the most frequent eye colour brown was significantly less frequent than expected in comparison to the general Brazilian population. These results support the hypothesis that model eye colour is the result of negative frequency-dependent selection. This could be the result of people using eye colour as a marker of genetic diversity and finding rarer eye colours more attractive because of the potential advantage more genetically diverse offspring that could result from such a choice. Eye colour may be important because in comparison to many other physical traits (e.g., hair colour) it is hard to modify, hide or disguise, and it is highly polymorphic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Frost P. The puzzle of European hair, eye, and skin color. Adv Anthropol. 2014; 4:78–88.
    1. Lazaridis I, Patterson N, Mittnik A, Renaud G, Mallick S, Kirsanow K, et al. Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans (Supplementary Information 1). Nature. 2014513: 409–413. 10.1038/nature13673 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eiberg H, Troelsen J, Nielsen M, Mikkelsen A, Mengel-From J, Kjaer KW, et al. Blue eye color in humans may be caused by a perfectly associated founder mutation in a regulatory element located within the HERC2 gene inhibiting OCA2 expression. Hum Genet. 2008; 123:177–187. 10.1007/s00439-007-0460-x - DOI - PubMed
    1. White D, Rabago-Smith M. Genotype-phenotype associations and human eye color. J Hum Genet. 2011; 56(1):5–7. 10.1038/jhg.2010.126 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Janif ZJ, Brooks RC, Dixson BJ. Negative frequency-dependent preferences and variation in male facial hair. Biol Lett. 2014; 10:20130958 10.1098/rsbl.2013.0958 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

Isabela Forti was supported by a PhD scholarship from Science without Borders, a Brazilian Government Federal Programme to Support young scientists.