Re: Waking up covered in dew

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Paul Crowley (Paul@crowleyp.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: " . . many Old World primates . will often ascend to the tree-tops
: for the warmth of the rising sun and for drying the nightly dew
: on their fur . ." (page 44, The Life of Primates, Adolph Schultz)

: The deposition of nightly dew must have been a serious problem for
: our ancestors. And it would have been worse on the ground than up
: in a tree. Protection from dew is a function of fur that is
: usually overlooked. Of course, once they began to use animal skins
: as covers it would have been largely solved. That was probably
: H.erectus. But how did they cope before that?

: I suggest that they didn't: they must have lived in an environment
: where dew did not occur.

: Any other ideas?

: Paul.

If protection from dew is a function of fur, and this dew is a problem,
how do we know pre-erectus hominids were not hairy? Would the hair have
functioned as fur would? I don't know, does anyone?

Susan

-- 

                                             susansf@netcom.com

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