"Peter F"  wrote in
news:b8eh62$c0b$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> "Simon Dobbs"  wrote in message
> news:b8coe1$2qr4$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
>> On Thu, 24 Apr 2003 19:43:54 +0100, TWINBLUE wrote
>> (in message ):
>>
>> >> When (in the evolutionary history) became humans naked ?
>> >>
>> >
>> > When they came close to becoming an aquatic life form. i.e. Humans
>> > are "naked"
>> > for the same reasons dolphins are "naked".
>> >
>> > TWINBLUE
>> >
>>
>> why are otters, minks,  and the rest not naked? These are obviously a
>> lot 
> moe
>> adapted to aquatic life than man.
> 
> Why do whales swim naked?

AFAIK, with the exception of otters,  primarily aquatic mammals rely on 
blubber rather than fur for insulation - this includes manatees that live 
in the tropics. Seals have blubber but still have fur - I am guessing it 
is because they spend part of their time on rocky islands, and need the 
fur for protection against abrasion. Whales, dolphins, and manatees spend 
all their time in the water and don't need fur, so it has been lost. With 
the exception of humans, the other furless land animals (elephants, 
rhinos, and hippos) are all very large and live in hot climates. One of 
the more interesting explanations I have so far heard for human 
hairlessness is that it is a protection from fire - it would be nice to 
know when humans or their predecessors became hairless in order to test 
this hypothesis.

Yours,

Bill Morse
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