AgentOfChaos wrote:
Who did Somalis descend from though, or did we just appear out of nowhere and have been here since the beginning of time?
The original homeland of Somalis is Zeila. But if we go further back into time, the original homeland of Cushitic speakers was the Horn of Africa highlands. All nomadic peoples (Afars, Sahos, Somalis, etc) today in the region have their origins in the Horn of Africa highlands. It is from these highlands that has shaped our phenotype. When certain Cushitic speaking groups migrated to the lowlands, they became taller than their counterparts in the highlands. The cold weather of the highlands made the people adapt and grow shorter limps to conserve body heat. Because the lowlands and coastline of Somalia is hotter, the cushitic speakers there adapted longer limps to cool off their bodies, hence becoming a bit taller. This is why the Dinka people of South Sudan are among the world's tallest people. Of course, diet plays a big factor, too.