They found some bones in of a cave man in Spain. Given how close spain is to Africa
Quote from article
"Experts were astonished to find the ancient hunter-gatherer, given the name La Brana 1, had a combination of African and European genes.
Results from an analysis of DNA taken from a tooth show he had dark – possibly black – hair and skin with deep blue eyes, the online edition of the journal Nature reports.
Study leader Professor Carles Lalueza-Fox, of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, said: ‘The biggest surprise was to discover that this individual possessed African versions in the genes that determine the light pigmentation of the current Europeans."
'Even more surprising was to find that he possessed the genetic variations that produce blue eyes.’
Hope you know that they're basically agreeing with me. Again a mutation happened.
Anyways heres the FULL article and the stuff you left out.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/europeans-had-dark-skin-blue-eyes-7-000-years-ago-1.2512465
A genetic analysis of an ancient European hunter-gatherer reveals that his face was a striking combination of dark skin and blue eyes.
Spanish researchers recovered DNA material from the 7,000-year-old skeletal remains of two specimens, nicknamed La Brana 1 and La Brana 2.
Lead researcher Carles Lalueza-Fox, with the Spanish National Research Council, said the genetic tests on a molar tooth belonging to one specimen, La Brana 1, indicate that scientists' assumptions about when Europeans developed light complexions were way off the mark.
"The biggest surprise was to discover that this individual possessed African versions in the genes that determine the light pigmentation of the current Europeans, which indicates that he had dark skin," Lalueza-Fox said.
Scientists had believed that Europeans with light complexions evolved early during the Upper Palaeolithic era (between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago), soon after Europeans left Africa and arrived in Europe. But the latest findings show that La Brana 1 still had dark skin and had been around the continent for 40,000 years, meaning fair skin probably evolved millennia later.
The findings are published in the journal Nature.
Modern relatives in Sweden, Finland
The early man was the first European hunter-gatherer to have his genome fully sequenced.
Lalueza-Fox said it's difficult to determine the exact shade of the man's complexion, but that he very likely had dark hair — either black or brown — as well as the gene mutation for blue eyes.
One theory of how light skin emerged is that changes in diet may have been a big contributing factor, as farming became more commonplace. La Brana 1 lived in a time that predates agriculture and his genome shows he was lactose-intolerant and unable to digest starch.
Dark skin absorbs less vitamin D during exposure to the sun. The rise of food production may have meant lower dietary intake of vitamin D, giving Europeans an evolutionary incentive to adopt lighter complexions, allowing them to absorb more vitamin D from the sun.
Lalueza-Fox's team traced the man's closest modern-day relatives to northern European countries like Sweden and Finland.
La Brana 1 and La Brana 2 were discovered by hikers in 2006 in a cave in La Braña-Arintero, in the Cantabrian Mountains of Spain. The cool, dark conditions helped to preserve the remains.
La Brana 2's DNA was not analyzed in the same way, because it was more degraded due to contact with moisture.
Also agrees with @Poitier and @Kemet_Rocky that environment/food has an effect on phenotype.
Heres another article on the same topic:
http://www.livescience.com/42838-european-hunter-gatherer-genome-sequenced.html
The analysis of the man, who lived in modern-day Spain only about 7,000 years ago, shows light-skin genes in Europeans evolved much more recently than previously thought.
Another one:
http://www.livescience.com/41040-skin-color-genes-identified-india.html
Lighter skin has less melanin, a pigment that blocks the sun's UV rays; the body uses these rays to make vitamin D. The SLC24A5 gene is linked to less melanin production, so the gene may have become more common in Europe because it allowed people's skin to make more vitamin D in the continent's low-light conditions.