-"Western Steppe Herders are believed to have been light-skinned.
The rs12821256 allele of the KITLG gene that controls melanocyte development and melanin synthesis,[32] which is associated with blond hair and first found in an individual from central Asia dated to around 15,000 BC, is found in three Eastern Hunter-Gatherers from Samara, Motala and Ukraine, and several later individuals with WSH ancestry.[13] Geneticist David Reich concludes that the massive migration of Western Steppe Herders probably brought this mutation to Europe, explaining why there are hundreds of millions of copies of this SNP in modern Europeans.[33] In 2020, a study suggested that ancestry from Western Steppe Pastoralists was responsible for lightening the skin and hair color of modern Europeans, having a dominant effect on the phenotype of Northern Europeans, in particular.[34]
A study in 2015 found that Yamnaya had the highest ever calculated genetic selection for height of any of the ancient populations tested.[16][30]
About a quarter of ancient DNA samples from Yamnaya sites have an allele that is associated with lactase persistence, conferring lactose tolerance into adulthood.[35] Steppe-derived populations such as the Yamnaya are thought to have brought this trait to Europe from the Eurasian steppe, and it is hypothesized that it may have given them a biological advantage over the European populations who lacked it.[36][37][38]
Eurasian steppe populations display higher frequencies of the lactose tolerance allele than European farmers and hunter gatherers who lacked steppe admixture"
-"Western Steppe Herders are believed to have been light-skinned.
The rs12821256 allele of the KITLG gene that controls melanocyte development and melanin synthesis,[32] which is associated with blond hair and first found in an individual from central Asia dated to around 15,000 BC, is found in three Eastern Hunter-Gatherers from Samara, Motala and Ukraine, and several later individuals with WSH ancestry.[13] Geneticist David Reich concludes that the massive migration of Western Steppe Herders probably brought this mutation to Europe, explaining why there are hundreds of millions of copies of this SNP in modern Europeans.[33] In 2020, a study suggested that ancestry from Western Steppe Pastoralists was responsible for lightening the skin and hair color of modern Europeans, having a dominant effect on the phenotype of Northern Europeans, in particular.[34]
A study in 2015 found that Yamnaya had the highest ever calculated genetic selection for height of any of the ancient populations tested.[16][30]
About a quarter of ancient DNA samples from Yamnaya sites have an allele that is associated with lactase persistence, conferring lactose tolerance into adulthood.[35] Steppe-derived populations such as the Yamnaya are thought to have brought this trait to Europe from the Eurasian steppe, and it is hypothesized that it may have given them a biological advantage over the European populations who lacked it.[36][37][38]
Eurasian steppe populations display higher frequencies of the lactose tolerance allele than European farmers and hunter gatherers who lacked steppe admixture"