The variety of eye colors in people is amazing, but the majority of the planet's inhabitants have gray, brown or blue irises. Much less common are blue, green, red, yellow eyes. The rarest eye color is purple, however, it is not easy to find such an anomaly, and therefore most people are sure that it is just a myth. But this is reality, and such a phenomenon can be seen at least in the photo.
Violet eyes. The violet tint of the iris is the result of a mixture of shades of red and blue colors, so genetically it is simply a variant of the iris with blue pigment. Blue pigment is not at all uncommon; all blue-eyed representatives have it Caucasian. Unlike blue eyes, blue and blue-lilac are much less common, but amethyst or violet are completely rare in the world. But, since genetics does not reject the possibility of the existence of lilac eyes, they can be seen.
Purple irises are found among representatives of one of the ethnic groups in the highlands of North Kashmir. The famous American actress, whose beauty captivated the whole world, had violet-colored eyes.
Doctors include lilac irises in the list of symptoms of Alexandria syndrome. The symptomatic picture of this genetic disease includes highly developed muscles, thick fingers, often patients have no hair on the body, and women have no menstrual cycle, although fertility is normal.
Green eyes. A pure green tint of the iris is rare, as is violet, but variations of this tint in combination with light brown or gray meet often. These chameleon eyes change shade against the background of clothes of a certain color. Among the green iris options are bottle green, light green, emerald green, grassy, jade, emerald brown, leaf green and sea wave.
There is unconfirmed scientific research the opinion that the gene for green eyes is adjacent to the gene for red hair, but in practice green eyed people- brunettes and brown-haired people, sometimes even blondes are found. A green tint of the iris without any admixture of another color is present in 2% of the world's inhabitants. Most of them are residents of Central Europe and Russia. Of interest are studies according to which the color of the iris is influenced by a person’s gender: among the adult population of Holland green eyed men less than green-eyed representatives of the fairer sex.
Red eyes. The red color of the iris is an exception to the rule, since it is found only in albinos, who have a lack of melanin in their tissues.
With this genetic feature, the color of the iris is simply absent, and blood vessels are visible through the tissues and collagen fibers of the iris, which makes the eye color reddish. When blue pigment is present, the iris takes on a purple tint.
Golden or yellow eyes. Yellow The iris is a special case of brown color. Yellow eyes, depending on the amount and density of pigment, can be either rich yellow-brown, gold, amber, or light yellow, which looks exotic and resembles the color of the eyes of cats or wolves.
Often such eyes have a dark rim on the iris. So, despite the light color, yellow eyes can be bright, attracting attention with their unusualness.
Black eye color. Brown eyes ranging from dark to light shades are the most common iris color on the planet, but the high concentration of melanin that makes eyes truly black is rare.
This feature is characteristic of the peoples of Africa belonging to the Negroid race, and the peoples of Eastern, Southern and Southeast Asia, who are representatives of the Mongoloid race. Often, ebon-black eye color is combined with a grayish or yellowish tint. eyeball.
With congenital or acquired heterochromia, the color of a person's eyes varies. Heterochromia can be complete or partial. In the first case, the irises of a person’s eyes will be of different colors, both similar in shade and contrasting. With partial heterochromia, abnormal pigmentation can be central or sectoral, when one or more parts of the iris in one or both eyes are different in color.
The birth defect is due to a mutation, affects only the appearance of the eyes and does not carry additional problems. Acquired due to injury or chronic diseases heterochromia is accompanied by all sorts of complications, such as organic or functional transformations in the nervous system. Interestingly, congenital abnormal staining of the eye shell is more common in girls, whereas strong half humanity rarely demonstrates such a phenomenon.
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The human eye consists of the eyeball and subsidiary bodies. The apple has a spherical shape and is located in the cavity of the orbit.
The middle shell of the eyeball is rich in blood vessels and itself consists of three parts: the anterior (iris) or iris (in the form of a flat ring with a pupil), the middle (eyelashes), and the posterior (a collection of blood vessels and nerve fibers).
Color human eye determined by the color of the iris. Its hue, in turn, is determined by the amount of melanin in the anterior layer of the iris (the posterior layer has dark pigment; albinos are an exception) and the thickness of the fibers.
It happens that eye color changes throughout life, you can read about this.
Melanin affects the color of the iris, hair and skin.
Melanin affects the shade not only of the iris, but also of hair and skin. The more it is contained in the body, the more “eastern” a person looks, that is, melanin colors brown, black, brown.
Brown is the most common eye color in the world. Present in the iris large number melanin, the fibers are quite dense.
The prevalence of this shade is explained by its “usefulness”: dark eyes They resist both the bright light of the sun (among the southern peoples) and the blinding glare of snow and glaciers (among the peoples of the north).
As a result of evolution and migration, which occurred most actively from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD, this eye color is found on all continents and in all races.
WITH scientific point vision, blue eyes do not exist. The appearance of this shade of the iris is due to a small amount of melanin and a high density of stromal fibers ( connective tissue). Because it is bluish in color, light reflects off it and makes the eyes appear blue. The higher the density of collagen fibers, the lighter the shade.
Decreased melanin production in blue eyed people caused by a genetic mutation, which is 6-10 thousand years old. This eye color is most common among Europeans.(about 60% of the population), but also occurs among Asian peoples. Among Jews, the birth rate of blue-eyed children is more than 50%.
Blue eye color indicates a small amount of melanin and a low density of stromal fibers. The lower this density, the more saturated the shade. Mostly infants have such eyes.
Gray eyes are similar to blue eyes, but in gray eyes the density of the fibrous body of the stroma is slightly higher. The shade of gray will depend on the degree of light scattering. With increased melanin content, yellow or brown pigment spots are possible.
This eye color is most often found in Europe and countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Swamp eye color – mixed. Depending on the light, it appears brown, hazel, golden or green. The number of melanin cells producing brown, small, the admixture of blue or gray depends on the thickness of the stromal fibers.
As a rule, the iris of swamp eyes is heterogeneous; there is a large number age spots. You can find such eyes among Indians, Europeans and peoples of the Middle East.
The green iris contains a small amount of melanin; The light brown or ocher pigment of such an iris merges with the diffuse blue tint of the stroma and the result is green.
Like swamp green eyes, green eyes do not have an evenly distributed shade.
Pure green is very rare, is more common among residents of all regions of Europe. According to recent studies, mostly women are born with eyes of this color.
According to some reports, the so-called red hair gene recessive gene in the human genotype.
Black eyes are similar in structure to brown ones, but the amount of melanin in the iris of such eyes is very large, ending up on the iris sunlight almost completely absorbed.
Such eyes are common among the peoples of Asia.. Babies in such regions are immediately born with melanin-rich eye membranes. Pure black eye color occurs with albinism (oculocutaneous type).
Unusual iris color is usually caused by various disorders: genetic mutations or other disruptions in normal operation body.
Albinos have red eyes
(ocular type of albinism). In the iris of such people there is no melanin, both in its outer layer and in the inner layer (which, as mentioned above, has dark color). The color of the eyes in this case is determined by the blood vessels.
In particularly rare cases, the red color may become purple shade because of blue stroma, but this phenomenon practically does not occur. Albinism accounts for only 1.5% of the entire world population. Often accompanied by visual impairment.
The phenomenon of lilac eyes is practically not studied. It was called the “origin of Alexandria”: according to Ancient Egyptian myth, the inhabitants of a small village saw a strange flash in the sky and considered it a sign from God. That year, the women of the settlement began to give birth to children with unusually beautiful eyes.
One of the first was the girl Alexandria: in the first year of her life, her eyes changed from blue to purple. Subsequently, she had daughters, and each of them had the same eyes. The clearest example of a person with such a pathology is Elizabeth Taylor.: Her iris had a lilac tint. People with this eye color are even rarer than albinos.
People with this pathology have jet black eyes. As a rule, the mutation is accompanied by visual impairment: hypoplasia, etc.
Heterochromia is considered one of the most beautiful eye mutations. It is characterized different colors irises of the left and right eyes or unequal color of different parts of one eye, that is, it can be complete and partial.
There are both congenital and acquired heterochromia.
She may develop as a result serious illnesses or eye injuries(siderosis, tumors). Partial heterochromia is much more common, even in practically healthy people.
In animals (dogs, cats) this phenomenon is much more widespread than in people (white cats, huskies, etc.).
Eye color in humans is inherited by one of many genes. From the moment of conception, a person is predetermined to have one or another shade of the iris. However, even scientists cannot say with 100% certainty what eye color a child will have. What affects the shade of the iris and what rare eye colors do people have?
People's eye colors are completely unique. It is known that the pattern on the iris is as unique as human fingerprints. There are mainly four colors of the iris - brown, blue, gray, green. According to statistics, green- the rarest of those listed. It occurs in only 2% of people. There are only 4 primary colors, but there are many shades of them. In exceptional cases, a person’s iris can be red, black and even purple. These are the most unusual shades, which the iris acquires after birth, are extremely rare in nature.
After birth, the baby's eyes are usually light green or dull gray. After a few months, the tone of the iris changes. This happens thanks to melanin, which accumulates and forms the color of the eyes. How more melanin, the darker the iris. The color, which is determined by the genes, appears around the age of one, but it is finally formed only by 5, and in some cases by 10 years. The intensity of eye color, that is, the amount of melanin, is influenced by genetics and nationality.
No geneticist can predict with absolute certainty what exact eye color a child will have. However, there are some patterns that allow us to assume what a person’s eyes will be like.
These patterns can be seen using examples:
It is worth taking into account that a child’s blue eyes may subsequently become sky blue, gray-green – emerald, and brown – black. This is almost impossible to predict. Actually, this is the basis of the uniqueness of the shade of the human iris. Sometimes she has an unusual color from birth. There is absolutely rare shades, occurring in only one person in hundreds of thousands. Let's compile the top unusual flowers eye.
The first place in the list of “The rarest eye color” is violet. This shade is obtained by mixing blue and red tones; few people have seen people with purple irises. As geneticists note, purple eyes- This is a similarity to blue, that is, they are a variant or pigment of the color blue. It is assumed that purple eye in the world is found only among the people of North Kashmir. Also lilac eyes were from the legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor. Varieties of purple shade include ultramarine, amethyst and hyacinth.
Sometimes a lilac iris can be a symptom of pathology. In Marchesani syndrome, which is characterized by abnormal development of the eyes and limbs, the iris may take on a purple hue.
The color purple can be considered a great rarity; it is rather beyond comparison. Then the green tint rightfully takes first place in the ranking of eyes of unusual colors. Only 2% of the world's population has it. In this case, the following patterns are observed:
The most famous owner of green eyes is Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. Her iris has a dark green tint. Actress Tilda Swinton has bright emerald green eyes, while Charlize Theron's irises are a calmer, light green color. Among men with green eyes, one can remember Tom Cruise and Clive Owen.
Another rare color is red. Most often, albinos have red eyes, although with albinism the iris is usually brown or blue. The iris becomes red when the pigment melanin is absent. Because of this, eye color is determined by shining through the iris blood vessels. If the red tint mixes with the blue tint of the stroma, the eyes may become purple color, which is closer to purple.
Amber eye color, which is a type of brown, is also very rare. Amber eyes are usually bright, clear with a very strong golden tone throughout the iris. Varieties amber color considered golden green, reddish copper, tan and golden brown shades. Truly amber eyes, which may somewhat resemble the eyes of a wolf, are practically never found in nature. However, shades of amber are also quite beautiful and rare.
Fifth place in the top unusual eye colors is black. It is, in fact, another variety of brown. The black iris contains a lot of melanin, the amount of which determines the intensity of the color. Thanks to its saturation, the black tint almost completely absorbs the light rays falling on the iris. This type of eye is found mainly among representatives of African peoples. In Caucasians, it is less common, but it is more common than purple, green and amber eyes. A famous owner of black eyes was the British actress Audrey Hepburn. Varieties of black include slate black, obsidian, pitch black, dark almond and jet black.
Eyes of different colors are also very rare. This physiological feature called heterochromia.
Heterochromia is a fairly rare phenomenon. It occurs in only 2% of the world's population. It occurs due to a lack of melanin in the iris of one eye.
Congenital heterochromia develops approximately six months after the birth of a child, when pigment begins to be produced. If it is distributed unevenly, the eyes take on different shades.
More often congenital heterochromia observed in women, although scientific explanations no to this. Men's eyes also come in different colors, but much less often. But their heterochromia manifests itself in a more unusual form.
Types of heterochromia:
Heterochromia, which has genetic background, manifests itself after birth. The acquired form occurs as a result of injuries and diseases, for example, Fuchs syndrome. This disease is an inflammation choroid and irises. The syndrome usually affects one eye. One of the symptoms of the disease is lightening of the iris. There are other, more rare pathologies that are accompanied by changes in the color of the iris. Among them:
All these pathologies are characterized by a change in eye color.
Another rare phenomenon associated with iris color is chameleon eyes that change color. A change in the shade of the iris can occur as a result natural causes and under the influence of external factors. Natural emotions include emotions (stress, fear). External factors— air temperature, atmospheric pressure, room lighting. Chameleon eyes can become lighter or darker, depending on the influence of these factors. Such changes are temporary and not always noticeable.
Incredible facts
Brown-eyed people more trustworthy than blue-eyed people, scientists have found.
However, as researchers from Charles University in Prague, it is not the eye color itself that inspires confidence. When a group of volunteers were shown photographs of the same men whose eye color had been artificially changed in different photographs, they were considered more reliable.
This suggests that It’s not the eye color itself that inspires trust, but the facial features inherent in brown-eyed people.
For example, brown-eyed men tend to have a rounder face with a wide chin, a wider mouth with raised corners, big eyes and closer eyebrows. All these qualities indicate masculinity and therefore inspire confidence.
In contrast, blue-eyed representatives of the stronger sex more often have facial features that are perceived as a sign of cunning and changeability. These are, as a rule, small eyes and a narrow mouth with drooping corners.
Women with brown eyes are also considered more trustworthy than those with blue eyes, but the difference is not as pronounced as for men.
One of the first features that attracts us to a person is their eyes, and especially their eye color. Did you know which eye color is considered the rarest, or why eyes can be red? Here are a few interesting facts about the color of a person's eyes.
© Kichigin
Brown eye color is the most common eye color in the world, with the exception of the Baltic countries. It results from the presence of large amounts of melanin in the iris, which absorbs a lot of light. People with very high concentrations of melanin may appear as if their eyes are black.
© MariaBobrova
All people with blue eyes have one common ancestor. Scientists have traced the genetic mutation that led to the appearance of blue eyes and found that it appeared 6000 - 10000 years ago. Before that time there were no blue-eyed people.
Most people with blue eyes are in the Baltic countries and Nordic countries. In Estonia, 99 percent of people have blue eyes.
© Catalin
Yellow or amber eyes have a golden, tan or copper tint and are the result of the presence of lipochrome pigment, which is also found in green eyes. Yellow eye color is also called “wolf eyes”, as this is a rare eye color common among animals such as wolves, domestic cats, owls, eagles, pigeons and fish.
© Zastavkin
Only 1-2 percent of people in the world have green eyes. Pure green eye color (which should not be confused with marsh color) is a very rare eye color, as it is often eradicated in the family by the dominant brown eye gene. In Iceland and Holland, green eyes are most common in women.
© Pio3
Heterochromia is a phenomenon in which one person can have different eye colors.. It is caused by too much or too little melanin and is the result of a genetic mutation, disease or injury.
© ajr_images/Getty Images Pro
With complete heterochromia, a person has two different colors irises, for example, one eye is brown, the other is blue. With partial heterochromia, the color of the iris is divided into two parts of different colors.
Red eyes are common found in albinos. Since they have almost no melanin, their irises are transparent but appear red due to the blood vessels.
© kasto
Eye color can change throughout a person's life. African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians are typically born with dark eyes that rarely change. Most Caucasian children have light colored eyes at birth: blue or blue. But over time, as the child develops, the cells in the iris of the eye begin to produce more melanin pigment. As a rule, Baby's eye color changes by age one, but can be established later by the age of 3, and less often by 10-12 years.
In rare cases, changes in eye color throughout life may also indicate certain diseases, such as Horner's syndrome, some forms of glaucoma and others.
The formation of eye color is complex process, which is determined genetically. There are many combinations of genes that we get from both parents that determine the eye color you will have. Here is the most simplified diagram that will help you find out the eye color of your unborn child.
From school course In biology, we know how the color of a child’s eyes is genetically determined, we know that brown color dominates blue and it happens that a person has eyes of different colors. We will tell you facts you didn't know. For example, at what age does eye color develop and why does our iris have one color or another?
Fact 1: all people are born with bright eyes
Please note that all newborn babies have eyes gray-blue color. Ophthalmologists explain this very simply - babies have no pigment in the iris. There are exceptions only in the countries of East, Southeast and South Asia. There, children's irises are already saturated with pigment.
Fact 2: We acquire our final eye color in adolescence
The color of the iris changes and forms by 3-6 months of a child’s life, when melanocytes accumulate in the iris. The final eye color in humans is established by the age of 10-12 years.
Fact 3: brown eyes- these are blue eyes
Brown is the most common eye color on the planet. But ophthalmologists say that brown eyes are actually blue under the brown pigment. This is a consequence of a genetic mutation. The outer layer of the iris contains a large amount of melanin, resulting in the absorption of both high- and low-frequency light. Reflected light results in a brown (brown) color.
Exists laser procedure, which allows you to remove pigment and make your eyes blue. It is impossible to return the previous color after the procedure.
Fact 4: in ancient times everyone was brown-eyed
Researchers have found that 10 thousand years ago, all inhabitants of the planet had brown eyes. Later, a genetic mutation appeared in the HERC2 gene, whose carriers had decreased melanin production in the iris. This first led to the appearance blue color. This fact was established by a group of scientists at the University of Copenhagen led by Associate Professor Hans Eiberg in 2008.
Fact 5: a little about heterochromia
This is what is called the different color of the iris of the right and left eyes or the unequal color of different parts of the iris of one eye. This feature is explained by the fact of excess or deficiency of melanin due to diseases, injuries, genetic mutations. With absolute heterochromia, a person has two different colors of the iris. One eye may be blue, the other - brown. There are 1% of people on the planet with such an unusual deviation.
Fact 6: green is the rarest eye color
1.6% of people on the planet have green eyes; it is the rarest, as it is eradicated in the family by the dominant brown gene. Green color is formed like this. The outer layer of the iris contains an unusual light brown or yellow pigment called lipofuscin. In combination with the blue or cyan color resulting from scattering in the stroma, green is obtained. Pure green eye color is extremely rare: the color of the iris is usually uneven, and this leads to the appearance of numerous shades. Most often, green eye color occurs in those whose genotype is dominated by the gene responsible for red hair color. Swiss and Israeli scientists came to these conclusions. These findings are indirectly confirmed by the high prevalence of green eyes among red-haired people. The results of the study were published in the “Genetic Nature” section of the Nature.Com portal.
Fact 7: a little about other colors of the iris
Black the eye is similar in structure to brown. But the concentration of melanin in the iris is so high that the light falling on it is virtually completely absorbed. Black eye color is most common among members of the Mongoloid race in East, Southeast and South Asia. In these regions, the iris of newborn children is already saturated with melanin.
Blue The eye is the result of light scattering in the stroma (the main part of the cornea). The lower the density of the stroma, the richer the blue color.
Blue eyes, unlike blue, is explained more high density stroma. The higher the fiber density, the lighter color. As we all remember, this beautiful color scheme was partly the reason for the formation of fascist ideology. After all, according to scientists, 75% of the indigenous inhabitants of Germany have blue eyes. No other country in the world has such a concentration of blue-eyed people.
Walnut color is a combination of brown (hazel), blue or light blue. And it can take on different shades depending on the lighting.
Gray the eye is similar to blue, while the density of the fibers of the outer layer is higher. If the density is not so high, the eye color will be gray-blue. Gray eye color is most common among residents of the Northern and Eastern Europe, in certain regions of North-West Africa, as well as among residents of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
Yellow the eye is extremely rare. It is formed due to the content of lipofuscin pigment (lipochrome) in the vessels of the iris. But in most cases, the fact of this eye color is explained by the presence of kidney diseases.
Fact 8: Albinos can have both red and purple eyes
The most unusual and interesting color eye, red, usually found in albinos. Due to the lack of melanin, the iris of albinos is transparent and appears red due to the blood vessels. In some cases, red, mixed with the blue color of the stroma, gives a violet eye color. However, such deviations occur in a very small percentage of people.
Prepared using materials: ailas.com.ua, medhome.info, glaza.by, medbooking.com, nature.сom, nfoniac.ru
