Are we really naked as nature intended?

Question

Did we lose our natural light fur when we ventured out into colder climates and started to wear heavy animal skins?

Answer 1

What do you mean? Man has never had fur!

Answer 2

we have evolved to be hairless over millions of years, early hominids would have had coarse fur covering most of thier bodies but as the human race has evloved the more hairless ones have become more attractive, and better adapted to thier environment, i think it may coincide with the discovery of fire, we were able to stay inside and keep warm without the need for thick fur, that and the invention of clothes from animal skins meant that we could drop the pelts and be more bald.

there has to have been some advantage in being hairless, i would have said your was a good hypothesis however i would reverse it, it would be advantageous to have a layer of fur in a colder climate, my thinking is that we lost out hair due to climactic changes, ie the leaving behind of an ice age and having a heatwave period in history, once the fur was gone it diddnt grow back and then we started to wear clothes as the species moved north/south it depende which hemisphere you are in.

Answer 3

No, apart from one very artificial breed of mexican dog and a burrowing rat the only hairless mammels are sea based.
We probably lost our fur when a distant ancestor spent a few million years in or around the water. It explains many other things too, in order to develop speech, you must first control breathing, an aquatic ape would have to learn to control breath in a way that chimpanzees cannot and have never learned to.
We also have a dive reflex, when we immerse our body systems slow down automatically, it is a reflex we share with otters and other water based mammals.
If you want to learn more look up the aquatic ape theory in Google or read Earthworks by Lyall Watson.

Answer 4

The reason that humans are relatively hairless has a rather more complex explanation. We exhibit a feature of reproduction called neoteny - which means retention of juvenile characteristics.

Jargon translated. Humans have a relatively long gestation (pregnancy) yet give birth to relatively undeveloped young, including a lack of hair among other things. Most other mammals which give birth to undeveloped young have short pregnancy (e.g. rodents) while those which have long pregnancies (e.g. horses, elephants) have young which are much more advanced.

The advantage to the human system is that a long pregancy and birth of dependent babies and a long time until independence is that the brain can develop advanced skills. We have bodies of juveniles compared to other species in return.

For a much better explanation of neoteny and human development in more detail read Stephen Jay Gould's books it is a topic that he mentions frequently. Most are published by penguin.

Answer 5

No, if monkey's start wearing cloths, then they still would keep their fur on their body

Answer 6

no mammals are completely hairless, even whales have a bit of hair! its one of the traits of mammals.