Somewhere on this thread, the notion was presented that beards are armor. A beard is going be very ineffectual in a physical attack. It will not slow the jaws of a predator. It could make throttling simpler if the beard is caught in the choke hold, limiting neck movement. I can’t think of any way that it be effective as armor. I acknowledge that it could serve as camouflage, or a warning sign of high testosterone level. These valid, non-armor deterrents, combined with other reasons previously stated in the thread about the need for armor, would make it less likely that true armor would evolve. Beneficial mutations are rare. I don’t think we could variate armor, but I don’t have a way to prove that. Most mutations seem to have started as small changes, that through variation and/or combination with other traits, circumstances, etc., develop into more significant features. These changes almost always need to provide a benefit that outweighs other features competing to develop. This is all supposition based on actual results in real life bearded humans. Not all human males have much of a beard. Beards could be an attraction to females that actually favors less useful genes in other traits. Women may not have any idea about the survivability or protection level offered by the man who impregnated her. Although genes are generally not considered altruistic, thinking organisms may be. So an individual man’s genes may not be a factor in the survival of a woman, or his genes. Lions work differently. A male, or, usually related, group of males, protect a pride of many lionesses. If something happens to the males, like death, or getting their asses kicked by other lions, new males move in and eliminate the genes of the old males.
I go back to my original assertion that this is intellectual entertainment, and it is impossible to draw conclusions about the process of evolution (with what we currently know about the subject).
It is possible to draw a conclusion about whether a beard is armor, no matter how it evolved. It isn’t.
Okay, running out of time. But I explained some obvious differences between lions and people. Plus I explained the inability to draw conclusions. Once braiding starts, I think we are past the evolution of the beard. I don’t know the details of how well a lion’s mane serves as armor, so I’ll check out your cites. Still seems unlikely to me to be armor. And I gave a couple of good reasons why the beard works without being armor for both lions and men. Plus, who goes after a male lion’s neck besides other male lions? I’m asking seriously because when the lion was evolving, it might not have been the top predator. Anybody know if lions need neck protection (that a mane would provide) from any other animals, now, or in the past?
Yeah, the braid thing wasn’t serious - I just thought it was funny.
The cite to examine is the last one, which is directly on point (the full article is available if you click it). I dunno if the authour is right or not, but at least once scientist has made the case for speculating that human beards = armor.
