color due to the dispersal of light hitting the skin. A study of Melanesians found that the darker skinned inhabitants possessed large, singly dispersed melanosomes, whereas the lighter skinned inhabitants had smaller melanosomes bound in complexes . This infers that the large single state melanosome is directly related to dark skin. The size of these melanosomes are not specific to "race". For example, Africans with light skin contain the smaller melanosome complexes associated with light skin. Skin color is not dependent on the number of melanocytes, because all people have the same number. What does influence skin color variation is the size and distribution pattern of melanosomes as well as other factors.A major function of melanin is to act as a defensive barrier of the skin against radiation damage. Ultraviolet light between the wavelengths 280-320nm (UV-B) causes sunburn and damages the skin on nonpigmented peoples. Exposure to this degree of light causes their skin to become dry, leathery, and wrinkled in appearance similar to that associated with aging. This can be seen in Whites living in Australia and South Africa, where ultraviolet light intensity is high because of the relative latitude or closeness to the equator. Melanin is also said to be linked with hearing. Melanocytes are present in the inner ear, the eye, and in the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord. It has been demonstrated that melanin deposits in these areas are proportional to the amount of melanin found in the skin . These areas of the body, similar to the skin, are exposed to high-energy free radicals that can damage the surrounding cells, and thus causing a lower threshold for hearing.Evidence shows that black people, on average, hear better than whites, and that within both races, women surpass men. A partial explanation of the differences may lie in the abundance in the inner ear of melanin pigments. Also, numerous studies have found that peop...
