• Question: Apart from keeping us warm, does our hair have any other purpose?

    Asked by flissboo to Claire, Kate, Matt, Rob, Sam on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hi flissboo!

      Well, our hair is left over from the evolutionary process. Besides warmth, hair was also for camouflage and protection – your eyelashes and eyebrows, for example, trap dust and things that could damage the eye.

      In some animals their hair can be used as a mating display, and I guess to some extent that happens in humans too – we generally find people with shiny, healthy hair to be more attractive as it indicates that they are healthy too (and able to bear healthy children).

    • Photo: Matthew Pankhurst

      Matthew Pankhurst answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Yes, it shades us from the sun, and holds a warm layer of air around us when we are in water or air. It also also it used for touch, and trapping insects and dust. It also holds bread crumbs for me when I’ve been in the field for a few weeks….. now that I think about it hair is really great…!

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