Description:
The dominant type of New Guinea and Melanesian islands. The name derives from melas (Greek) = black, and nesos = island. Probably developed through various migrations from South-East Asia during the Paleolithic and Neolithic. Medium brown to black skin, tight-curly hair, robust features, often with supraorbital arches, wide, relatively high noses and full lips, the height is variable, the limbs are long. Although features sometimes appear Sub-Saharan African, no close relationship exists, and they result from convergent evolution. Besides the Insular Melanesid proper, a more gracile, long-nosed Neo Melanesid variety is found among Papuans. Mountain Melanesids show very robust features, Tapirids are among the shortest people of the world. In the Western Solomon Islands, a very dark Bukaid variety exists. A very ancient, Australoid variety is the Paleo Melanesid.
Names:Melanesid (Eickstedt, 1934; Vogel, 1974; Knussmann, 1996), Melanesian (Coon et al., 1950; Cheboksarov, 1951; Cole, 1965; Debets, 1974; Alexeev, 1979), Mélanésienne (Vallois, 1968), Papua-Melanesiana (Biasutti, 1967), Melanesian-Papuan (Hooton, 1946), Papouasienne (Montandon, 1933), Homo Melanicus (Bory, 1827).
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