Physical Appearance
There is some debate as to whether Genghis Khan was fully Mongoloid or mixed Mongoloid/Caucasoid as there is no historical portrait of Genghis Khan. The only piece of evidence attributed to his Caucasoidness was the description from Rashid al-Din that recorded him having red hair and green eyes. However, these traits still exist in some modern Mongols who are predominantly Mongoloid in appearance but have inherited all light hair and light eyes traits such as blue or green eyes and blonde or red hair. A certain number of Mongols, particularly the Oirats in western Mongolia, tend to exhibit lighter features such as fair skin, blue or green eyes, varying shades of brown hair, and sometimes even red or blonde hair. Zerjal et al. identified Genghis Khan's paternal DNA Y-chromosomal lineage to be Haplogroup C3, a common mongoloid marker among Tungusic people, which would make Genghis Khan more likely to be either predominately Mongoloid or at least a Euro-Mongoloid hybrid. Genetic testing of ethnic Mongolians mtDNA in Xinjiang China were found to have 14.3% west Eurasian mtDNA, which shows a significant amount of Europoid maternal contribution into the Mongolian mtDNA gene pool.
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Famous quotes related to physical appearance:
“[In early adolescence] she becomes acutely aware of herself as a being perceived by others, judged by others, though she herself is the harshest judge, quick to list her physical flaws, quick to undervalue and under-rate herself not only in terms of physical appearance but across a wide range of talents, capacities and even social status, whereas boys of the same age will cite their abilities, their talents and their social status pretty accurately.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)