Don't get it (Re: Ape to Man - where did the hair go?)

this one?http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0670031100.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}

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I don't seek hair like an apes, but I do wonder why we are bare butted.

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Actually, we are not bare butted. There is hair there, but it is so fine that it is hard to feel. In fact, we have just as much hair as any other ape, but the thickness varies on different parts of the body. Next time you get goosebumps/goosepimples, just look at all the hair standing up on your arm and imagine each single strand as being as thick as the hair on your head. Just as an aside, some primates also have male patterned baldness, which might make Ned feel a little better.

AND just WHAT did I do to deserve that?? I'll have you know that some significant fraction of women find bald sexy! Geez!But on topic. Mike commented about losing information. This is a bit of an oversimplification. As noted elsewhere it depends on what the, in this case hair loss, genetic change was. It might be a simple mutation in a control that could have some not too small probability of being reversed. The hair loss could even be due to the addition of some inhibitor with some complexity. In that case any "break" of the inhibition would bring back the trait being inhibited.It isn't as simple as "losing" a gene for hair.

In Africa there was a tremendous drought that caused the trees over time to recede. Hence the African savannah. Arborial apes over time began to decend more and more to the grasslands to exploit the new nich. Tall grasslands and predation perhaps led to Bipedalism and the scavanging adaptatations freed up the hands , which in turn increased intelligence. Hair as another member suggested was not advantageous and the gene for hairyness through mutation and natural selection was not propagated. Fast forward....Homosapiens sapiens year 2004. This is theory but is supported by facts we evolved from arborial apes on the plains of Africa to eventually become the domiant creature on the Earth. Evolution experts feel free to nit pick and correct my laymans understanding of this.

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This is theory but is supported by facts we evolved from arborial apes on the plains of Africa to eventually become the domiant creature on the Earth. Evolution experts feel free to nit pick and correct my laymans understanding of this.

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Being a microbiologist, I really don't see man as the dominant creature. We are still around at the whim of our single celled bretheren for many reasons, but that is another topic for another day.The Aquatic Ape theory is also interesting, and may explain the reduction in hair thickness. Some info can be found here. I am not endorsing this theory by any means, but it is an interesting alternative to the "out into the savannah" theory. It might also explain our emotional and sexual ties to water. If I remember correctly, the current Out of Africa expansion of humans has them moving up the coasts of Africa. Anyway, just food for thought.

Hi Loud mouth,
I read a book about aquatic apes. Cant remember the name but yes it was interesting. As far as (dominant) I was refering to mammals. I dont want to insult our singlecelled brethren. They by far have the crown when it comes to numbers/distribution/ adaptation and exploitation of niches. I hear they are even finding them in Ice cores now? I was giving the most universal explaination; aquatic apes would of been laughed out of the water. Pun intended.

Fortunately for all of you, you haven't seen my butt. If I could knit, I could make a sweater for a chihuahua from the shearings I could harvest back there.
And then, I had six wisdom teeth, like, say, a chimpanzee does......

Yeah, but it's not a forgone conclusion that it would take a destructive mutation to cause thin hair.For instance it could be that, like skin color, having a certain number of gene repetitions controls hair thinness - more of a certain gene, thicker hair. Just like two light-colored people could have a dark-colored child, you could have much, much thicker hair than either of your parents.Like I said, though, I'm not familiar enough with the genetics of hair to say.

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Fortunately for all of you, you haven't seen my butt. If I could knit, I could make a sweater for a chihuahua from the shearings I could harvest back there.
And then, I had six wisdom teeth, like, say, a chimpanzee does......

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Unlike you, my body is almost as bare as my computer monitor... or Ned's headBut seriously, 6 wisdom teeth? Are you some kind of mutant?

The word might not be 'mutant' but rather 'throwback'. I, on the other hand, am an example of the opposite: a more highly evolved specimen. You can tell by the continuing loss of hair.

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But seriously, 6 wisdom teeth? Are you some kind of mutant?

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If you think that's bad, I had eight. I still hold the record at my oral surgeons office 10 years later. Too bad number of wisdom teeth doesn't correlate with wisdom, otherwise I would have hit the jackpot.Just to get back on topic, does anyone know about the variation in dentition among other primate species. I am wondering if this is a strictly human affliction.

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I read something about Natural Selection that says if you lose the information then you can't get it back.

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I don't think this is true. Walking stick insects have evolved and lost wings several times, though the process took millions of years.Newsroom - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis
Page Not Found | Cleveland Museum of Natural History

But in that case, the wings they got back weren't the wings they had, as I recall, so I think Mike is still mostly correct.There's nothing that would prevent the regaining of lost information. But it would be only as likely to happen as it was for that organism to gain that information the first time.

Man never lost the hair of the apes because man never had that much hair in the first place. Hair follicles does not equal hair! My hair follicles don't keep me warm. Don't insult our intelligence. This guy has a right to be confused listening to the crap you jokers come up with.It is DEvolution to lose one's hair which is required for warmth in nearly every country except the lands where the Garden of Eden was located, where people can be warm night and day without a single hair (follicle) or scrap of clothing.So, here's the total truth. Man was created to exist in the Garden of Eden, where clothing and hair were not required for warmth. Man was evicted from the Garden of Eden after the fall. Now man suffers in the cold and needs to wear clothes. Why is that so hard to digest? Science, after all these years and with all that combined intelligence still cannot explain why man lost his hair. They skip around the subject and don't know WHAT to do about it.

Man never lost the hair of the apes because man never had that much hair in the first place. Hair follicles does not equal hair! My hair follicles don't keep me warm. Don't insult our intelligence. This guy has a right to be confused listening to the crap you jokers come up with.It is DEvolution to lose one's hair which is required for warmth in nearly every country except the lands where the Garden of Eden was located, where people can be warm night and day without a single hair (follicle) or scrap of clothing.So, here's the total truth. Man was created to exist in the Garden of Eden, where clothing and hair were not required for warmth. Man was evicted from the Garden of Eden after the fall. Now man suffers in the cold and needs to wear clothes. Why is that so hard to digest? Science, after all these years and with all that combined intelligence still cannot explain why man lost his hair. They skip around the subject and don't know WHAT to do about it.