Butt Naked – Why Humans Lost Most of Their Body Hair
Compared to our sisters and brothers in the animal kingdom, humans are gloriously naked, when they are naked. The drastic reduction of hair on our bodies is nothing less than remarkable. It is unprecedented in our family of hominids, which include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. Nevertheless, humans still have approximately the same density of hair follicles as chimps and gorillas.
So why have we lost most of our body hair? Today’s evolutionary scientists speculate, but do not offer one definitive reason.