• Question: Why do we have hair

    Asked by Ronaldo and Azz to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 13 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by aprilshowers.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      Hi again. can I give the same answer three times? We have hair because our ancestors – monkeys and apes, had hair – probably to keep them warm. We’ve lost most of ours as we don’t need it anymore (we created fire and lived in caves), but we still have hair on our heads, possibly to protect from the effects of the sun on the top of our head, or as extra protection against minor knocks.

    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 13 Nov 2015:

      Different types of hair can function in different ways too- I think the theory is that eyebrows and eyelashes are to help protect your eyes.

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