# Why did humans evolve long hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176 "2002-04-12T04:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![reef\_shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@reef\_shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reef_shark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/21 "2014-01-21T17:47:13Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > Hi, I’m not attacking the theory of evolution - I’m not a creationist any more. > > Anyway, people’s body hair is generally thinner and less pigmented than apes body hair. But what about head hair? What is the survival advantage of having some hair that is about 90cm in length? And some people have extremely thick head-hear - they would have an “afro” if they let it grow freely. > > Did it evolve to make males or females appear more attractive? Well I guess females do appear more attractive with long hair than with ape-like hair… though that doesn’t explain why males have long hair as well. Hi, I am just curious as to what information led you to abandon your creationist beliefs? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/22 "2014-01-21T17:49:30Z")
> [@Ahrramin](#): > > …With the natural oils I expect I can synthesise vitamin D in my hair, which would be one advantage, especially since most of our skin is covered up by clothes. Furry animals synthesise vitamin D in the oils on their fur… That doesn’t seem correct – all visible hair above the skin is _ **dead** _, so how could it synthesize anything? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/23 "2014-01-21T19:23:30Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Does zombie hair continue to grow? That’s why you shoot 'em in the head. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/24 "2014-01-21T19:27:49Z")
To piss off their monkey parents. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/25 "2014-01-21T19:30:56Z")
> [@Ahrramin](#): > > When I came away from living in the woods to work on a farm instead, at first I would wash my hair with warm water, and very quickly it started knotting and snapping, and lost its sheen and colour. What kind of soap were you using? Hand soap is very hard on hair. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/26 "2014-01-21T19:40:36Z")
I would also suggest that long hair in humans may have arisen after tool use, which means there may never have been a state of humans with long hair who were unable to cut it or style it if they wanted to. If that’s the case, then long hair would never have been a disadvantage from a natural selection standpoint because you can always use a sharpened rock to cut it as short as you’d like. Long hair would be purely a cultural status display of health, wealth and creativity. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/27 "2014-01-21T19:55:20Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Male pattern baldness in humans, for example. If you buy that it makes the sufferer unattractive and less likely to reproduce (which is by no means a certainty), you may wonder why it arose in the first place. But if you notice that most men have reproduced by the time the baldness becomes really noticeable, then you realize that it provides no barrier to reproduction, and that therefore there’s no reason it should be selected against. I read one theory (undoubtedly put forth by a balding evolutionary biologist) that a bald head enabled women to spot older (and hence presumably genetically superior) males from a distance (sunlight reflecting off the bald spot). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/28 "2014-01-21T20:07:51Z")
> [@reef\_shark](#): > > Hi, I am just curious as to what information led you to abandon your creationist beliefs? Thanks. **Moderator Note** Such a discussion is better suited to IMHO or Great Debates than General Questions. If you want to pursue this, start a new thread in either of those forums. As a reminder, [my instructions to you](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16347477&postcount=12) about arguing creationism in this forum still hold: [QUOTE=Colibri] If you want to argue creationism, do it in Great Debates. . . . do not post creationist arguments in this forum. [/QUOTE] Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/29 "2014-01-22T00:07:04Z")
> [@reef\_shark](#): > > Hi, I am just curious as to what information led you to abandon your creationist beliefs? Thanks. Mainly the Green River Formation. It seemed to take millions of years to form. I believed that the Bible definitely says that it has only been about 6000 years since Adam and probably since the creation of the universe. So an old age means the Bible can’t be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/30 "2014-01-22T00:18:31Z")
Sorry I didn’t read that previous moderator message. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/31 "2014-01-22T02:23:17Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I read one theory (undoubtedly put forth by a balding evolutionary biologist) that a bald head enabled women to spot older (and hence presumably genetically superior) males from a distance (sunlight reflecting off the bald spot). And it makes about as much sense as any other “why we evolved [a specific characteristic]” theory. I like it. Did said biologist ever outline a reproductive benefit to being seen by potential mates from a distance? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/32 "2014-01-22T02:29:51Z")
It’s not necessary for a trait to give an advantage for it to become persistent. It merely has to not convey a disadvantage. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/33 "2014-01-22T03:31:46Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > It’s not necessary for a trait to give an advantage for it to become persistent. It merely has to not convey a disadvantage. The theory as presented does assume an evolutionary benefit to being seen from a distance, though, so I wonder what it might be. ---
**Author:** ![weemart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@weemart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weemart)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/34 "2014-01-22T03:36:03Z")
What I don’t get is why did the one ape stupid enough to lose it’s hair then decide it needs clothing to protect itself from climate become the ape that dominated the planet? It seems to be the total opposite of evolution and survival of the fittest. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/35 "2014-01-22T03:41:12Z")
> [@weemart](#): > > What I don’t get is why did the one ape stupid enough to lose it’s hair then decide it needs clothing to protect itself from climate become the ape that dominated the planet? We evolved in a dry tropical climate. Clothes only became necessary for protection from climate when we moved into temperate areas. Some anthropologists hypothesize that clothing was first worn (in the tropics) not for protection but for ornament. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/36 "2014-01-22T15:14:30Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “Aquatic Ape” is a _hypothesis_, not a Theory. I don’t think I’d even grant #1 the status of “hypothesis”. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/37 "2014-01-22T15:29:44Z")
There still isn’t a consensus on why we lost our body hair. My favorite hypothesis is that we lost it when we started using fires regularly for cooking. Most likely, there was more than one reason, and any simple explanation is an oversimplification. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/38 "2014-01-22T15:33:51Z")
Hah – just realized that this is a necrothread. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/39 "2014-01-22T17:42:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t think I’d even grant #1 the status of “hypothesis”. It has more evidence than the overkill hypothesis. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176/40 "2014-01-22T22:25:26Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I don’t think I’d even grant #1 the status of “hypothesis”. It doesn’t account for why chimps don’t have long hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-humans-evolve-long-hair/103176.md?page=3)