Redheads Face Extinction



Word from the scientists is that redheads may become extinct as early as 2060!

The current National Geographic magazine reports that less than two per cent of the world’s population has natural red hair, created by a mutation in northern Europe thousands of years ago.

Global intermingling, which broadens the availability of possible partners, has reduced the chances of redheads meeting and producing little redheads of their own.

If the gingers really want to save themselves they should move to Scotland. An estimated 40 per cent of Scots carry the red gene and 13 per cent actually have red hair.

Link - via Spluch


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Posted on August 23, 2007 at 4:52 am by onelargeprawn
Category: 1 Other Neat Things



18 comments to "Redheads Face Extinction"

  • Perceive
    August 23rd, 2007 at 5:32 am

    This is just the same old blonde extinction urban legend with a dye job:

    http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/blondes.asp

    Please delete the spotlight on this bit of horrific journalism, or at least point out how faulty it is.

  • ffox
    August 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 am

    The Greek philosopher Xenophanes (572–480 B.C.) is often quoted for this: “Each man represents the gods as he himself is. The Ethiopian as black and flat-nosed the Thracian as red-haired and blue-eyed; and if horses and oxen could paint, they would no doubt depict the gods as horses and oxen.”

    The meaning is completely other theme of dicussion, but it provides us with a nice artifact of a factoid about the red haired Thracians. :)

    Also as you may know or not know - the mythical history of Ireland describes a migration from ancient Balkan Peninsula, through the Pyrenean Peninsula and last - to modern day Ireland. So the now famous red haired Irish may not have this looks based on a “northern Europe mutation”.

    sadly (well not much, but anyway), nowadays inhabitants of the Balkans are rarely red-headed as after so many centuries being the crossroad of many great migrations this recessive gene is almost completely lost. now the majority of people in the region are different shades of brown haired, with just a hint of red or blonde in their child years.

  • pol x
    August 23rd, 2007 at 6:59 am

    Yawn!

    Sorry, nodded off reading the twaddle.

    There was as show about being a Ginja Ninja on the tv in the UK recently and the BloodNut extinction thing was asked of some professor of genetics at Oxbridge.

    He all but laughed them out the lab.

    It is nonsense.

  • Rosi
    August 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 am

    Well you know what will happen from this.
    The gingers will break ranks and infect everyone else, like zombies. Then we’ll all have gingervitus.
    You think gingervitus is a myth? Well I spent time with a ginger friend of mine… then one summer my hair went ginger. It’s never fully gone back to the brown it once was…
    YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
    Gingers: Be safe. Wear a hat.

  • Tempscire
    August 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 am

    Well, thank goodness for recessive genes, otherwise we’d…still not have something to worry about.

  • Dodgyd55
    August 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am

    RedHeads To Go Extinct by End of Century says National Geographic

    we can only hope

    so far the only cure is death

  • xopl
    August 23rd, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    We’re scary looking… which is why I only date brunettes…

  • Jake D.
    August 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 pm

    This is interesting because I’m very much attracted to my friend who is a redhead and I haven’t quite convinced her yet that I am a fitting person.

    But I can show her this article and maybe convince her that we should pro-create to change these results! I’ll have to lie about me having some of the red gene, though, because I have brown hair. But if a little white lie will save the redheads and make a girl fall for me, then it’s worth it!

  • Chris
    August 23rd, 2007 at 1:24 pm

    Git yer haggis, right here… chopped heart and lungs… boiled in a real sheep’s stomach… tastes as good as it sounds! Good fer what ails ye, eh?

  • L
    August 23rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    I thought that mutation was something that still popped up randomly from time to time…

    In any case, I doubt they’ll become extinct. Especially not as soon as 2060. That would mean that none of the redheads who are having kids today would pass on the gene and have little carrot-tops of their own. Seems unlikely.

  • Marilyn
    August 23rd, 2007 at 3:36 pm

    Oh thank god. I hope this is true.

  • Saul Wall
    August 23rd, 2007 at 3:39 pm

    While the phenotype of having red hair will become less and less frequent, the recessive gene will likely continue and probably spread to many different populations (as with blond hair). So rather than seeing one population with many read haired people you will see it popping up very rarely in unexpected places like a four leaf clover. If someone with the recessive red haired gene also has some other gene that increases fertility you might see the red hair gene tag along and become very common in th global population which would result in more instances of red hair popping up.

    BTW, given how hot red hair is (I say as a blond guy) no one outside Britain has a clue as to why you people hate red haired folk so much. It kind of makes one look demented. I have read about people in the UK getting death threats because of their red hair.

  • Michael
    August 23rd, 2007 at 5:20 pm

    Not only is this report a load of nonsence, but “Extinction” is the completely wrong word.

  • Jess
    August 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 pm

    Mmm, so by their prediction, I should be dead by the time I’m 74. I have a little redheadded cousin too who’s 2. So that would give her a lifespan of 55?

  • amanda
    September 3rd, 2007 at 4:26 pm

    We can only hope?? Whats the matter with you people. Red heads are by far superior to any hair color. The rest are all a dime a dozen. On a daily basis Im stopped by some stranger who tells me how beautiful my hair is. I wonder how many dirty dishwater blondes get that or poup brown brunettes. Im going to guess. NONE.
    Signed,
    A very hot red head.

  • Jonas
    October 22nd, 2007 at 1:25 pm

    My BFFL has red-hair. She teaches me things everyday. Without red-heads, our world would be in chaos. I rather have red hair than be bald….and I’m Indian. To be Indian and to have red-hair….now that is a majestic site. In conclusion, red-heads make the world go round.

  • dani
    January 19th, 2008 at 12:28 am

    haha, well i think redhair is the most beautiful thing on earth , people with red hair are so amazing because there are so few in the world. brunettes, blondes and black hair is so blah,boring and normal. but when you see a red head they stand out. most models are red head too. So i hope they stay in this world till the end of time,and people stop makeing fun of them!

  • gingerlover
    January 23rd, 2008 at 7:58 am

    I’m a natural medium blonde and would love to have a ginger or red haired baby. I wonder if my chances are improved because of my great grandmother who was a Scottish redhead?


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