Allometry of primate hair density and the evolution of human hairlessness
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8313693 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gary G Schwartz (0000-0002-4789-4297, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University), Leonard A Rosenblum (SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University) |
| Year | 1981 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 9-12 |
| Publication date | 1981-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/ajpa.1330550103 |
| PMID | 6789685 |
| OpenAlex | W2111779480 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 15 |
Allometric analyses of hair densities in 23 anthropoid primate taxa reveal that increasingly massive primates have systematically fewer hairs per equal unit of body surface. Considering the absence of effective sweating in monkeys and apes, the negative allometry of relative hair density may represent an architectural adaptation to thermal constraints imposed by the decreasing ratios of surface area to volume in progressively massive primates. Judging by estimates of body volume, denudation of the earliest hominids should have progressed to a considerable extent prior to their shift from a forest to a grassland habitat during the Pliocene. We propose that, lacking a reflective coat of hair, the exploitation of eccrine sweating emerged as the primary mechanism for adaptation to the increased heat loads of man's new environment and permitted further reduction of the remnant coat to its present vestigial condition
Adaptation (eye) · Allometry · Biological evolution · Biology · Denudation · Grassland · Hominidae · Primate · Zoology · Cryospheric studies and observations · Ecology · Paleontology · Physiological and biochemical adaptations · Winter Sports Injuries and Performance
Intraspecific, Interspecific, Metabolic, and Phylogenetic Scaling in Platyrrhine Primates
The adaptive response of human skin to the savanna
Perinatal hypothermia and maternal temperature declines during labor in pigtailed macaques ( Macaca nemestrina )
Geographic Distribution and Adaptive Significance of Genomic Structural Variants
Is a Woman’s Preference for Chest Hair in Men Influenced by Parasite Threat
Aspects of size and scaling in primate biology with special reference to the locomotor skeleton
Brief communication
Human skin color
Variation of Human Hairiness
Allometry and evolution of tertiary Hominoids
The evolution of human skin coloration
Comparative evidence for the independent evolution of hair and sweat gland traits in primates
The evolution of eccrine sweat glands in human and nonhuman primates
The Evolution of Human Skin and Skin Color
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 1983 - 2018 (36) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |