Uriah on Twitter: "I guess it’s just an interesting coincidence that the Tutsi are so lactose tolerant and also vaguely similar physically to Europeans."

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The stereotypical Tutsi appearance is described here by Reverend Roscoe in 1910. The description is pretty much always the same: tall, but thin and unmuscular, long, narrow noses and, a certain distinctive expression which Europeans called clever and the Hutu haughty.pic.twitter.com/016gZwbJvC

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

The ‘94 Hutu genocidaires were aware of ethnic differences in the nose and devised a crude scientific test to establish who was who: they would shove their fingers up someone’s nose and if they couldn’t fit them up the narrow nostrils, the suspect must be a Tutsi.pic.twitter.com/90UFT0jFb2

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

Tutsi and Hutu noses really are quite different. The nasal index measures the breadth of the nasal opening divided by its height; the highest values are found (85+) in warm, humid places like Africa or Southeast Asia, the lowest values (~40) in Northwest Europeans and the Eskimopic.twitter.com/AICvXpYNN2

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

If their noses are any guide, the Tutsi must never have lived in very humid territory and this impression is confirmed by looking at their frequency of the malaria protecting sickle gene (Hemoglobin S) compared to Hutu.pic.twitter.com/Mz4ejTHNUw

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

Rwanda’s average elevation is about 1500m, high enough to scare away both mosquitoes and the tsetse fly that renders cows unable to produce milk (see map for range). Rwanda is an Africa ideal for cattle raising: high enough to keep out bugs, but green enough to support pasture.pic.twitter.com/LxMESRHytd

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

The tsetse fly cannot survive temperatures below 16 or above 32° C, which has allowed certain Saharan groups like the Tuareg and Beja to also evolve high tolerance rates. The Beja are...interesting looking people.pic.twitter.com/uybOfGJ6h2

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

Different small studies show that Tutsi have one of the lowest rates of lactose intolerance in the world (<10% ), which if true, would only be surpassed by the Irish and Scandinavians. Interestingly then, in one measurable way they do coincidentally resemble North Europeans.pic.twitter.com/4ceecsGMwq

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

It’s hard to exaggerate the extent to which traditional Tutsi/Hima life revolved around cattle. When Roscoe visited different Hima clans (genetic relatives of Tutsi) he discovered that each one possessed their own sacred totem: see if you can spot a pattern.pic.twitter.com/9A2BcoBcHy

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

Whether or not Tutsi really do have distinctive facial impressions is obviously subjective; if there a face that fits the descriptions as both “clever” and “haughty” it would be Paul Kagame’s.pic.twitter.com/PJg5UfgltJ

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Uriah‏ @crimkadid Oct 22

Recent Western writers on Rwanda usually omit the forehead when discussing stereotypes of the Tutsi, but Rwandans themselves are well aware of it as were the earliest explorers, like Roscoe, who thought it was their most European feature. This is Miss Rwanda:pic.twitter.com/9sen9hPTpn