anecdotal account that suggests that the main
advantage to hair loss is preventing "moldy skin" She cites Sokolov
"It has been found that moisture evaporates twice as fast from fur as
from a smooth surface, proving that fur does not prevent the
evaporation of sweat." True enough moisture on fur is spread over a
larger surface and evaporates more quickly. However, moisture on fur
does not carry away body heat as it evaporates. Sweat on the skin of
a hairless biped is more effective in rejecting excess body heat.
Baboons do not forage during the hottest parts of the day. Like most
animals they head for a waterhole or the shade. Protohominds used
erect posture to extend forging times.
Wheeler's hypothesis was recently critiqued by Chaplin et al.(, 1994.
Journal of Human Evolution 27:497) but Wheeler's response to the
critique in the same volume should be reviewed as well.
That difference between Wheeler and Morgan is that Wheeler's scenerio
makes statements about the phyisology of heat rejection systems that
can be tested quantitatively. Morgan's attribution of nakedness to an
aquatic ancestry is inconsistant with observed instances of
hairlessness in aquatic animals. Other than this it provides no
Phil Nicholls firstname.lastname@example.org
"To ask a question you must first know most of the answer"