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Originally Posted by A_Wise_Fool  I am a little confused with this sequence:
Supposed early humans all Started with hair-
African region aboriginal humans lost hair. Because it was better for the climate, even though practically every land dwelling, above ground mammal of the region did not. |
They didn't lose hair because it was better for climate directly, because originally it was for insulation we assume. What happened so the theory goes, is that humans are resourceful enough to replace the loss of insulation with clothing, blankets, fire, etc. and the ones we're dicussing were in very hot climates where the marginal benefit of hair may have been reduced in terms of insulation. But at the same time they benefit from losing the hair in terms of persistence hunting, and if this became dominate (climiate benefit reduced, offset by clothese/fire, etc.), it sets the stage.
See link below. Basically humans can (and stil do today!) outlast much faster animals in a chase of endurance, the hair serves to restrict most animals ability to shed excess heat, and humans can hunt in the hottest times, strip down (drink up), and wear the animal out (heat stroke/exhaustion). I saw this on discovery, I certainly never thought about before then:
Why Are Humans Hairless and Sweaty? - An adaptation to long distance running - Softpedia Quote:
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After leaving Africa and then inventing clothing because they suddenly needed it in the cold environments... Northward migrators kept facial hair, (or grew it back???) to fight off elements, supposedly.
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I would assume coverings like primitive clothes and fur/hide blankets were developed at or before that time. I suspect cold nights were always a problem with or without a covering of hair, depending on the area and how much hair they had at that stage of development.
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African aboriginal humans kept faicial hair because...?
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Facial hair in some primates is used for a variety of social reasons, similar to with humans. How so depends on the race/culture/environment.
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..... of Fertility, though it did not need to fight off any elements...
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And sometimes things hang around for thousands of years simply because they do neither harm nor good at that time.
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.. so if that were the case, why did females loose their beards in the very same region while men kept them? And why did women not grow beards in the colder region just like the men did??
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I'll have you know, not from first hand exprience mind you, but some women do have beards! Then social signaling is more likely a primary reason if that's the case. Weather protection seems to be an added bonus perhaps, but not the primary factor as you point out. It's theorized that spotting a human adult at a distance, one could easily distinguish male from female this way. Just one of the guesses.
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The simple response probably would be women look more fertile without beards,
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In complex primate species, it appears to be linked to both social (dominance), and mate selection, not necessarily fertility of the female. Female communicate fertility in other ways, like 1:00am phone calls so I hear.
-Mach