Ethnicity Guesser

Based on historical distributions from ~1500 years ago. Estimates appearance, not DNA ancestry or personal identity.

Phenotype

South Amazonid Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

The most dynamic Amazonid variety, emerged in northern savannahs and spread south across Brazil to Paraguay and Argentina, pushing back older Lagids. The entry below collects the South Amazonid composite face, its documented distribution around 12.2° S, 55.6° W in South America, its physical characteristics, the research history behind the name, and the academic references that support all of it.

Average Face

The South Amazonid composite below is not a photograph of a real person. Historical anthropologists aligned multiple individual portraits from the South Amazonid reference population and averaged them into one image, so recurring structures — skull outline, nose form, lip thickness, brow position — dominate while individual idiosyncrasies cancel out.

South Amazonid phenotype average face composite

Composite source: Human Phenotypes — South Amazonid

Geographic Distribution

Geographically, South Amazonid anchors to 12.2° S, 55.6° W (South America). That is the point where historical anthropologists judged South Amazonid most concentrated, not a hard edge; modern migration and intermarriage have long since softened whatever boundaries once existed.

Reference center: 12.2° S, 55.6° W — South America. Historical distribution documented circa 500 CE; modern distributions differ substantially.

Physical Characteristics

Yellowish/reddish light to medium brown skin, straight or slightly wavy hair.

  • (Rather) short, mesoskelic, ectomorph to endomorph
  • Mesocephalic, sometimes brachycephalic, mildly hypsicranic
  • Mesorrhine, prominent high-rooted nose
  • Face is oval and relatively high, cheekbones not very pronounced, forehead broad, slightly receding chin
  • Eyes slanting, Mongolian fold rare

Historical Background

The most dynamic Amazonid variety, emerged in northern savannahs and spread south across Brazil to Paraguay and Argentina, pushing back older Lagids. Common among Tupian speakers, e.g. Apika, Awá-Guajá, Guarani, Kawahib, Chiriguano, Piripkura, etc., and the extinct Tupi and Querandí. Although tribal numbers collapsed since European contact, still important in Brazilian / Paraguayan Mestizos.

Research History & Naming

The passage below traces who first defined South Amazonid, which rival names competed with it, and how later authors consolidated or disputed the classification — the raw material of any serious phenotype reference.

Eickstedt (1934) defined and described the type as South Brasilid. Amazonid was used synonymously instead of Brasilid ( Imbelloni, 1958 ; Biasutti, 1967 ; Kunter, 1987 ). Lundman (1967) also defined a southern Tupi Amazonid subgroup. Brasilid was used by Canals Frau (1950) and Knussman (1996) , among others.

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

The five phenotypes whose documented centers lie closest to South Amazonid, ranked by great-circle distance. They are the types players most often confuse with South Amazonid in the quiz, precisely because their distributions overlap.

PhenotypeRegionDistanceDistinguishing trait
BororoSouth America663 kmOlive medium brown skin with straight and black rarely wavy hair.
BotocudoSouth America1,410 kmYellowish/copperish light brown skin with straight or wavy hair.
Lagoa SantaSouth America1,496 kmYellowish/copperish light to medium brown skin, straight or wavy hair.
Central AndidSouth America1,573 kmMedium olive-brown skin, straight, rarely wavy hair.
North AndidSouth America1,784 kmMedium, sometimes dark olive-brown skin with straight, sometimes wavy hair.

South Amazonid in the Game

South Amazonid is one of the faces that can appear in Classic Daily and Challenge Mode. When it does, the winning pin lands near 12.2° S, 55.6° W in South America — and because the scoring decays with distance, recognizing the region matters more than pixel-perfect placement.

Play Classic DailyPractice in Challenge Mode

South Amazonid Phenotype FAQ

Where does the South Amazonid phenotype come from?
Historical sources center the South Amazonid phenotype on 12.2° S, 55.6° W (South America). Treat that as a rough anchor: the type appeared across a wider surrounding area — its nearest documented neighbors, Bororo and Botocudo, sit 663 and 1,410 km from the reference point — and its present-day distribution no longer matches the historical map.
What does the South Amazonid phenotype look like?
The composite emphasizes recurring traits: yellowish/reddish light to medium brown skin, straight or slightly wavy hair. The full trait list for South Amazonid appears in the physical characteristics section above.
Is the South Amazonid phenotype a race or a nationality?
No. Phenotypes like South Amazonid are descriptive averages, not ancestry groups. South Amazonid is one of several types documented in and around South America — see the comparison table above — and the same individual can carry traits associated with several of them at once. The South Amazonid entry describes a statistical pattern, not a group of people and not a nationality.
How does South Amazonid appear in the game?
When the South Amazonid face comes up in Classic Daily or Challenge Mode, you pin the world map where you believe the type is historically most common, and the score decays with your distance to 12.2° S, 55.6° W. The nearest documented type, Bororo, lies about 663 km away, so regional placement usually carries most of the score.

References & Literature

The South Amazonid phenotype entry above is compiled from the 7 academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original South Amazonid sources for verification and deeper context.

  • Eickstedt, E. von. 1934. Rassenkunde und Rassengeschichte der Menschheit. Ferdinand Enke. Stuttgart.
  • Imbelloni, J. 1958. Nouveaux apports à la classification de l'homme américain. Miscellanea P. Rivet octogenario dicata. Mexico.
  • Biasutti, R. 1967 (1941). Le Razze e i Popoli della terra. 4th Ed. Vol 1-4. U.T.E.T., Torino.
  • Kunter, M. 1987. Population and racial history of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. In: Schwidetzky, I. Rassengeschischte des Menschheit 12.
  • Lundman, B. 1967. Geographische Anthropologie. Rassen und Völker der Erde. G. Fischer, Stuttgart
  • Coon, C. S., Garn, S. M. and Birdsell, J. B. 1950. Races: a Study of Race formation in Man. Charles C. Thomas. Springfield.
  • Knussmann, R. 1996. Vergleichende Biologie des Menschen: Lehrbuch der Anthropologie und Humangenetik. 2ed. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.

Related Phenotypes

If South Amazonid interested you, these neighboring phenotype entries cover adjacent parts of the map with distinctly different trait bundles.

  • Bororo

    South America · 663 km away

    The northernmost Patagonid variety, often mixed with local Lagid elements, but with a variety of unique features. Native to the savannah and...

  • Botocudo

    South America · 1,410 km away

    Lagid subtype of the Mata Atlântica forests of Brazil, partially mixed with the Fuegid substratum (South Fuegids, Huarpids). Was the dominan...

  • Lagoa Santa

    South America · 1,496 km away

    Lagid proper, named after fossil remains of Brazil. Associated with one of the first migration waves to South America. Skulls sometimes Mela...

  • Central Andid

    South America · 1,573 km away

    Andid variety, mostly native the Andes mountains from South Peru to Northern Chile. The large thorax and other traits indicate a significant...

  • North Andid

    South America · 1,784 km away

    The most important and numerous Andid subvariety, adapted to the high altitudes of the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Andes. Typified by Quechua. T...

Further Reading

Background articles from the blog that explain where the South Amazonid type fits, how these composites are built, and what a face can and cannot tell you.