Scientists provide new clues on how our hair has evolved
- Hair is one of the most important features in primates which include humans.
- Some functions of the hair are associated with thermoregulation, camouflage, protection, and signaling.
- However, the evolution of the wild primate pelage is still not well understood.
- Pelage is the covering of mammals consisting of hair, fur, or wool.[1]
- Researchers examined whole body hair color and density variation in lemurs.
- Lemurs are wet-nosed mammals with pointy snouts, long tails, and large eyes, and can only be found in Madagascar.
- Lemurs exhibit vertical posture like humans and their bodies are vertical to the sun.
- Researchers obtained hair color and density from museum and wild animals.
- They also obtain opsin genotypes from wild animals and obtain climate data from WorldClim.
- Opsin is a protein that binds to light-reactive chemicals associated with vision, phototaxis, and circadian rhythms.[2]
- Researchers discovered that across the Indriidae family, lemurs with darker hair can be found in wet regions.
- However, one of the genus called Sifaka, dark black hair is commonly found in cold forest regions.
- Additionally, the red pelage population is positively correlated with enhanced color vision.
- Researchers also found the follicle density on lemur’s crown and limbs increases in dry and open environments.
- The study highlights the effect of selective pressures on primate hair evolution.
- The study provides one-of-a-kind empirical evidence that supports an early hypothesis regarding the hair evolution of hominin.
Sources:
Tapanes, E. et al. (2022). Hair phenotype diversity across Indriidae lemurs, American Journal of Biological Anthropology. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24508
