u/upthetruth1

I noticed that sometimes phenotypical diversity in Africa is underestimated sometimes because some people mainly focus on hair colour or eye colour. Plus, most people in the West are used to seeing West/Central African populations and their descendants (African-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Afro-Latinos, West/Central African immigrants in Europe) as the “default” for Black people.

However, while it’s known Sub-Saharan Africa has more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined, it also has the highest phenotypical diversity. Even just focusing on one country like Ethiopia, you have populations with wide ranges in hair type (type 1 to type 4), skin colour (similar to Sicilian all the way to very dark brown black skin), a wide range of facial features and height, etc. Plus, epicanthic folds (which are usually attributed to East Asians) can be found in West African and Southern African populations. I don’t believe there is anywhere outside of Africa where native populations have the same range of hair types. You’ll also find the tallest ethnic groups and shortest ethnic groups in Africa. I also think you won’t find the same range of skin colours of native populations in a single country apart from India, but you will find such ranges in countries like Ethiopia and Somalia, etc.

Essentially, not only does Africa have a relatively high level of genetic diversity, it also has a relatively high level of phenotypical diversity, even just focusing on features people can see.