" Autism is really a dolphin in a human body "

Post Reply New Topic

well i'm off to the beach to play volleyball with seals

Yes. It's always been said that we lost our fur to help keep cool when we moved out onto the hot sunny plains... but fur helps to protect from the sun. Even camels, those 'ships of the desert', have fur. The only totally hairless mammals are:

* some that live permanently underground, such as some types of molerat. This lifestyle obviously never applied to us.

* those that live permanently in, or spend vast amounts of time in the water, such as dolphins, whales and seals.

* a few such as elephants and rhinos who are all but confirmed scientifically to have had an aquatic ancestor - and even now may spend more than half their time bathing.

Our skin is unique on this planet. We've evolved this skin to improve our long distance running. Our ancestors in Africa have specialized in running long distances after their prey. They needed the cooling performance (sweating) which our skin offers.

Humans, BTW, are the best long distance runners on this planet. Sure we can be outsprinted by lots of animals. But every other animal on Earth would overheat and run out of impetus very quickly. That is why most predators operate in packs and use tactics to surround their prey. Those that hunt alone are opportunity or ambush predators and opt not to run after prey for too long. Our ancestors were able to follow their prey for hours or even days.