Why Don’t Humans Have Fur?

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• ME

  Member

  Jan 27, 2010

  The better question is why the hell do we still have body hair! You would think that after millions of years of evolution and after about 8000 years of shaving the human body would make that leap and stop producing body and facial hair…

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• CD

  

  Cheri Donna Dawson

  Jan 27, 2010

  Thanks for the explanation

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• ME

  Member

  Jan 27, 2010

  Actually, humans have more hair than a chimpanzee; the difference is that most human hair consists of the almost invisible, fine hair.

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Jan 29, 2010

  For those who can’t find Scientific American, here is a quick summary of the article AS UPDATED ON FEB. 15, 2010:   (WARNING: This article assumes evolution is a fact. Some readers may be offended.)   The February 2010 issue ofScientific Americanhas an interesting article:The Naked Truth: Why Humans Have No Fur. Among other things, fur is used to keep warm, to protect against abrasion, moisture, and harmful parasites and microbes. Also, it can be used for social displays, like when a dog raises the hair on its neck and back, a clear signal to stay away. Most mammals have at least some hair. In some cases, the hair is so sparse and fine that it serves no function. Naked mole rats huddle to keep warm and since they can’t see each other, hair for social display would be useless. Whales and dolphins have no fur because it would cause drag when swimming long distances or when diving. Elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamuses are pretty much as naked as we are because they would otherwise be at a constant risk of overheating due to their size. Meanwhile, sea otters have fur that allows them to be buoyant in the water and float more easily, while playing its usual protective role on dry land. Of all primates, humans are the only ones largely without hair. Humans live neither underground nor in the water, nor are they as large as elephants and rhinos. Why are we so naked, then? It turns out even smaller animals risk overheating in some circumstances if their cooling system can’t cope. The human way of cooling off is to sweat profusely. There are primarily three types of sweat glands: sebaceous, apocrine and eccrine. In most mammals, the sebaceous and apocrine glands are the dominant sweat glands, and they are found near the base of hair follicles. The secretions mix to coat animals with an oily, sometimes foamy, mixture. While this can cool an animal, its capacity to dissipate heat is limited because evaporation occurs at the surface of the fur, not at the surface of the skin itself. The more the animal sweats, the less effectively heat is evaporated, because the fur becomes matted and evaporation is hampered. Humans, in addition to being without fur, have more eccrine sweat glands than animals with fur. Instead of clustering near hair follicles, eccrine glands are relatively close to the surface of the skin and sweat comes out through tiny pores. The combination of naked skin and the watery sweat produced mainly by the eccrine glands allows humans to cool down more easily. A human being can produce up to 12 litres of this thin watery sweat each day. Why did humans turn out this way? The theory is there was a global cooling period, which led to drier conditions in East and Central Africa, where the earliest ancestors of humanity are believed to have lived. As the climate became drier, the plant food (fruit, leaves, tubers, seeds) and sources of fresh water became scarcer, and the forest gave way to grasslands. Our ancestors had to give up leisurely foraging and travel greater distances to find edible plants and water. The need for extra calories eventually led to eating meat. Studies have shown that if the greater presence of eccrine glands and the loss of fur hadn’t occurred, these ancestors of ours would have continually been in danger of overheating due to their increased activity. Since humans walked upright, the only area where hair had to be preserved was on the head, as protection against the sun. The dense head hair creates a barrier of air between the sweating scalp and the heat at the surface of the hair. Hair in the armpits and in the groin area may combine with sweat to produce pheromones, as well as to provide lubrication in those areas when traveling from place to place. Everywhere else, hair generally disappeared, or became so thin and sparse as to be ineffective, while the skin became more waterproof and scuff-resistant. The more efficient cooling system also allowed the brain to expand over time. Australopithecines had a brain of an average size of 400 cubic centimetres, about the same size as that of a chimpanzee. Homo ergaster’s brain was twice that size. The homo sapiens brain had expanded yet another 400 c.c. Each size increase means extra heat is being produced by the brain. If the brain’s heat has nowhere to go in a hurry, the danger of overheating and seriously damaging the brain is very high. Without a highly efficient cooling system, humans could never have evolved to have such a highly developed brain, nor the intelligence that comes with it.

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Jan 30, 2010

  Another part of the article on why humans don’t have fur concerns how long we have existed BOTH without fur and without clothes.
  
  Unlike head lice, body lice feed on blood but live in clothing. Analyses of gene sequences in lice show that while head lice have always been with us, body lice evolved much later. The best estimate at this point is that body lice appeared about one million years after our fur disappeared. This means that for one million years, we were truly naked.

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Feb 15, 2010

  Just a note to say my summary of the article at post number 7 above has been revised and expanded somewhat.   Check out also the following threads:http://www.truenudists.com/forum/viewthread.php?id=7583andhttp://www.truenudists.com/forum/viewthread.php?id=7482.

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• MI

  

  Miss_Linda

  Feb 15, 2010

  [quote]The better question is why the hell do we still have body hair! You would think that after millions of years of evolution and after about 8000 years of shaving the human body would make that leap and stop producing body and facial hair…[/quote]    That person looks like a professional wrestler I used to watch on television.

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• PH

  

  Philfreeeuk

  Feb 15, 2010

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• ME

  Member

  Feb 15, 2010

  I think it is fair to say that some humans appear more evolved than others....however, it doesnt reflect on any measure of worth or intelligence, they just need to use more blades!
  HeHeHe

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• ST

  

  Steve

  Feb 15, 2010

  I guess my head is evolving while my ears and back are devolving.

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• WI

  

  WillGolden

  Feb 24, 2010

  You know, this is related to that other question "why do we body-shave?".  Well I posted this on a forum thread on that topic on Nudist Chat Community the other day and I think it is relevant here in relation to fur and bodyhair.  So here goes..........You know, the reason given by many for genital shaving is "because it makes it stand out more!" Poppycock! Complete misfire! The reason you have pubic hair is precisely to bring attention to the genital region. Nature has no misgivings. She is aware that the most important function in any life-form is reproduction. Dammit, I should know! Most of you will have had pets or farmstock. Most of them are covered in fur. Have you ever really looked at the genital regions? In most cases they are bald. That is because Nature wants the genitals to stand out. Therefore, being the only parts without hair, they attract attention. By apposite logic, because the human is largely hairfree, Nature has ensured the genitals get the attention by putting hair there. There are subsidiary patches of hair, for example, the male chest, to give an impression of superior strength for mating stock. But the premise is the same. So carry on shaving. It is a true naturist activity because it takes the emphasis away from sex. Goodonya!Hugz, Will

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Feb 24, 2010

  [quote]You know, this is related to that other question "why do we body-shave?".  Well I posted this on a forum thread on that topic on Nudist Chat Community the other day and I think it is relevant here in relation to fur and bodyhair.  So here goes..........You know, the reason given by many for genital shaving is "because it makes it stand out more!" Poppycock! Complete misfire! The reason you have pubic hair is precisely to bring attention to the genital region. Nature has no misgivings. She is aware that the most important function in any life-form is reproduction. Dammit, I should know! Most of you will have had pets or farmstock. Most of them are covered in fur. Have you ever really looked at the genital regions? In most cases they are bald. That is because Nature wants the genitals to stand out. Therefore, being the only parts without hair, they attract attention. By apposite logic, because the human is largely hairfree, Nature has ensured the genitals get the attention by putting hair there. There are subsidiary patches of hair, for example, the male chest, to give an impression of superior strength for mating stock. But the premise is the same. So carry on shaving. It is a true naturist activity because it takes the emphasis away from sex. Goodonya!Hugz, Will[/quote]      Actually, from what I've read, the hair in the pubic area and the armpits mixes with the sweat to provide lubrication in those areas when we are in locomotion. When we were on the move a lot more than we are now, the hair probably played a much more important role than it does now.   There is also the matter of sexual pheromones produced in the pubic area, and hair would play a role in that too.

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Mar 1, 2010

  [quote]Well I don't know about the rest of you but I am glad that I don't have to hack up hairballs![/quote]

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• GA

  

  gabare

  Mar 5, 2010

  i have been to resorts and beaches where some men look like giant furballs, make me want to pull out some clippers and go buzzzzzzzz, i can't stand body hair and wish you could take a pill to make it go away.

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• ME

  Member

  Mar 5, 2010

  I always loved Scientific American.
  Also, see the BBC program "What's the Problem with Nudity". It discusses the fur topic late in the program.
  It can be found here, for now:
  http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/whats-the-problem-with-nudity/

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• GE

  

  Gerry-4Original Poster

  Mar 6, 2010

  [quote]i have been to resorts and beaches where some men look like giant furballs, make me want to pull out some clippers and go buzzzzzzzz, i can't stand body hair and wish you could take a pill to make it go away.[/quote]  Oh, that must have been me. Sorry. I'll go to the other end now.

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