Re: Holloway/Morgan

MFeldman77 (mfeldman77@aol.com)
30 Jul 1995 22:45:30 -0400

You quickly dismiss the importance of sex and bonding in the
evolution of hairlessness and fat deposition. Please consider this - what
possible benefit would a primate have towards loosing the estrus? Why
would a species specifically evolve that requires constant sex between
partners in order to survive? This unusual circumstance - presumably
creating a more intense social bonding (there is an interesting article by
Insel and Carter on hormone receptors and monagomy in the August edition
of Natural History magazine) - creates a highly unusual evolutionary
pressure. I doubt anyone would argue that soft skin promotes affection.
The same argument holds for fat depostion. Women place fat in their
subcutaneous spaces, men in their peritoneum. As a matter of fact some
obese men have very little subcutaneous fat.