Why are we naked?

There are lots of theories as to why we lost our fur, the two most commonly accepted are to reduce the parasite load that fur bearing animal carry and secondly to aid in our ability to hunt larger animals. Humans are not only one of the few mammals that are naked, but also one of the few mammals that sweat through the skin. The sweating through the skin gives us the ability to run long distances over long periods of time and to lose the body heat generated quickly and efficiently. Other mammals can only lose the heat generated through their mouths or paws. By picking and pursuing one weak individual in a herd, we could chase that animal till it literally fell over from heat exhaustion and we could club or spear it to death. Humans on the plains of Africa that still hunt this way, can pursue an animal all day long.9152702

So nakedness is part of our strategy for survival. Running with clothes on is a detriment to the chase because like our prey, we overheat. Our bodies are very effective at moderating temperature, we adjust to heat by sweating, to cold by shivering to keep warm, the hair on our heads is to protect us from the sun and the cold, but are bodies are meant to be naked.

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