can an evolutionist answer this question?

Question

first let me say that i believe in evolution. i am not an ignorant creationist. but this one thing has confounded me. why do you think that people from arabic nations are so hairy in general. they come from a warm climate. i would think hair would have been phased out over time.

Answer 1

First off, I have lived in Arab countries for over twenty years, and was married to an Arab woman; while living there, I read many French scientific studies that dealt with Semitic hairiness; the majority view is that hirsuteness shields the skin from UV and heat; hair also traps an insulating air layer close to the skin; which does not heat up more than body temp.. especially when loosely covered by long tubular garments, such as all desert dwellers wear; which aids by trapping yet another layer of insulating air.

But one must remember that nighttime temps in all deserts approach freezing; this hirsuteness serves equally well at that time. And, yes, Arabs and other Semitic groups tend to hirsuteness; as do individual groups from other ethnic groups worldwide... some of whom may need the extra hair, others who do not; because of environment or technology or lack thereof.

Answer 2

Evolution does not guarantee that a species will be the best suited for it's enviroment, if that were true than no one would have their wisdom teeth. Evolution simply weeds out species who can not survive long enough in their enviroment to reproduce. Therefore Hairy people, while being slightly warmer, were still able to reproduce.

Also there may be an argument that the hair helps protect the body from sun burns/sand, and therefore actually aids to the survival.


If your still confused, follow my sourced link to the section about devolution, theres a paragraph there that basically answers your question with more references.

Answer 3

That's what evolution is all about -- randomness. Somehow, a random mutation was selected for.

Same conditions do not necessarily foster a certain phenotype. If they did, all animals in Africa would look the same!

It might not even be mother nature. Perhaps societies back then favored more hair on bodies. Those with more hair had greater reproductive success, and eventually, those will less hair did not reproduce as much, and eventually phased out.

Answer 4

There is not a person in the world who can answer this question. Hair could have been selected for. It could be linked, genetically, to another trait which was selected. It could have been random. All answers, educated or not, will be guesses.

Also, excess hair does not tend to cause premature death, lack of reproductive capability or fitness, and even if it were deemed horribly unattractive and prevented people from finding mates, many people could just shave the hair. By the logic of natural selection, some factor would have to cause hairy people to die off. A trait has to be more than just unnecessary to be removed by natural selection.

Answer 5

just a guess but it a) are arabic people really hairier or does the darkness and coarseness of their hair just make it seem that way? and then there is the fact that hair doesn't just retain heat, it also shields the skin from the sun and wind. could come in handy protecting the skin in blowing sand. there are many reasons that hair could offer some sort of advantage.

Answer 6

It could be seen as protection from the sun's rays during the day as well as protection from the cool nights without the sun.

Answer 7

What about the Arabic girls with white skin? I mean, it is hard to explain the phenomenon.