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Re: Bipedalism and endurance (Re: AAH - enough already)
Pat Dooley (patdooley@delphi.com)
Sun, 11 DEC 94 23:57:30 -0500
loopy <lmm5@cornell.edu> writes:
>> 6) Lack of dense body hair facilitates cooling.
>>
>> The converse is true. Fur provides a greater evaporative surface.
>
>How do you know the converse is true? unless it's very oily, fur sticks to
>the body when wet. That doesn't increase surface area. And even if it did
>increase surface area, that's useless because you want your skin to be
>cool, not your hairs. Naked skin on the other hand allows for the most
>efficient cooling of the _skin_.
If nakedness provided more effective cooling then every savannah creature
would be naked. In a study on Patas monkeys, tested under laboratory
conditions it was found they exuded sweat at half the rate per
square centimetre of skin compared to humans. Since they didn't
get any hotter one can only assume their sweating was more effective.
You might also observe that people living inhot, arid regions,
wear long, flowing clothes. It keeps them cooler than going around
in loin clothes and relying on their skin alone to cool them
Pat Dooley
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