Why do humans have much less body hair than most mammals?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Better sweat cooling
Better sweat cooling ✓ — Correct! One leading explanation is that less body hair let sweat evaporate more efficiently, helping early humans stay cooler during long activity in hot environments.
Better camouflage — Wrong. Camouflage matters for some animals, but it does not explain why humans evolved powerful sweating together with reduced body hair.
Faster muscle growth — Wrong. Muscle growth is not the main trade-off here. The bigger evolutionary clue is heat control.
More Evolution & Genetics questions
- Which of the following best describes a common change in RNA transcript length with age?
- Why do different organs in mammals show different gene activity patterns related to longevity?
- Two people can be the same age but show different RNA-module aging. What would a module clock show?
- Aging RNA signals grouped into modules, not one score. What does a module view reveal?
- Mouse, monkey and human cells show similar aging RNA shifts across tissues. What does that hint at?
- A platypus lays eggs but feeds hatchlings milk without nipples. What makes that less contradictory?