2006-11-15 13:17:41 · 21 answers · asked by still_funny_girl_here 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Grade-Schooler
When you blink, your eyelashes work with your eyelids to protect your eyes from dirt and other foreign objects. They also help to keep the eyes lubricated and clean by distributing secretions from special glands, called the glands of Zeis, which are located along the edge of the eyelid.
Check out the KidsHealth website, produced by the Nemours Foundation, and read: "A Big Look at the Eye" for a description of the different parts of the eye and how they work.
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/body/eye_SW.html
You can also perform an Internet search, using the Google search engine. Go to http://www.google.com and click on "Advanced Search." In the box where it says "with the exact phrase," type in your question: Why do we have eyelashes? I've listed below some good sites with answers to your question, some of which were posted previously by "Ask a Scientist" experts.
"Why Do We Have Eyelashes?" This answer was posted by Dr. Leslie L. Hartzell, Zooarchaeologist, Research Scientist, Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii during National Science and Technology Week in 1997.
http://www.nsf.gov/nstw_questions/biol/quest215.htm
"Why Do We Have Eyelashes?" Christopher Sheil, PhD Candidate, Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Herpetology, posted this answer during Global Science and Technology Week in 2002.
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/events/ask_sci/start.cfm?
qid=1560&search_text=eyelash&cid=XX&bid=1
Being Human: "Why Do We Have Eyelashes and Eyebrows?" This page comes from the Discovery Channel, Canada. It briefly explains how eyebrows and eyelashes work together to protect the eye.
http://exn.ca/human/brows.cfm
2006-11-15 13:19:57 · answer #1 · answered by katya_annalotovich_x 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eyelashes are a defense against dust and other things getting in the eye. For example, I was helping my husband blow insulation into our attic. The dust was everywhere. I was covered in it from head to toe and I wore a mask so it wouldn't get in my lungs, and my eyelashes were totally covered in the dust but not one bit got in my eyes.
2006-11-15 13:24:33 · answer #2 · answered by meoorr 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They would have been fur that became redundant except at the highly visible point where they would be useful for signaling purposes, courtship rituals etc. From being deselected by naturally breeding for less hair and no fur they would be selected for prominence improving each generation.
If anything they attract dirt dust and debris that theory is a common red herring.
2006-11-15 13:25:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eyelashes, along with tears from tear-ducts, and the blinking reflex, are part of our eye's natural defense mechanisms against particles entering the eye.
2006-11-15 13:20:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The fibers that compose the eyelashes have one purpose, to protect, and help clean the eye lense itself.
2006-11-15 13:20:00 · answer #5 · answered by StreetPunk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have eyelashes to prevent anything from getting into our eyes like dust, etc. although stuff still gets in.
2006-11-15 13:19:35 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your eyelashes serve a purpose in that they prevent debris from entering your eyes.
2006-11-15 13:23:45 · answer #7 · answered by C.J. W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They protect out eyes. If something touches our eyelashes, it causes us to respond by blinking.
2006-11-15 13:20:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To protect the eyes from debris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyelashes
2006-11-15 13:19:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
They help protect the eyes by catching particles that might get into them, like dust and blown debris.
2006-11-15 13:20:18 · answer #10 · answered by William E 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋