simply chromosomes, one of us as x, one of us has y
at fertilization all of us are female, that is the common pathway we all take, then depending of it we get the x or y from our mothers and fathers, determines which pathway we take.
for all of you about to flame me, this is a fact, i study this so i wont discuss this above statement with you.
as for skin tones etc, its is simply pigments, take people who live in jamacia, spain, etc, they are naturally darker, it depends on ur ancestors, blacks here are lighter skinned for a number of reasons, not limited to our climate, our enviroment, interracial relationships etc.