Re: Is the AAH a legitimate hypothesis? Of course it is.

From: Paul Crowley (slkwuoiutiuytciuyik_at_slkjlskjoioue.com)
Date: 01/15/05 

Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2005 16:21:22 -0000

"Bob Keeter" <rkeeter@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:XIVFd.6821$C52.1750@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
>
> <jae@ucdavis.edu> wrote in message
> news:1105724402.173946.146980@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> > In this light, how valid is your statement that sweating "wastes water"
> > when a primate who lives in a habitat that is rather arid for large
> > portions of the year shows similar levels of thermoregulatory sweating?
> >
>
> I think that your little friend is very conveniently forgetting a discussion
> that he and I had a while back in which he agreed that sweating ONLY
> makes sense, from an evolutionary standpoint, in a dry environment
> with ready access to DRINKING water. Apes that live in the trees,
> with ready access to water, plenty of tropical heat, but a quite humid
> environment do not sweat all that much. But humans do. . . . . hmmmmm.

Both of you were overlooking a lot. You
should not be thinking of the continual
outpouring of fluid -- as a kind of standard
system for the control of temperature; that
would impose truly enormous requirements
for the supply of both water and salt. Think
more of brief, but irregular occasions which
would not impose such huge needs, but
where the ability to sweat provided a
_selective_ advantage.

The patas monkey provides a good template.
It needs (on fairly rare occasions) to be able
to output a sudden burst of energy, which
would cause it to overheat -- if it did not have
a sweating capacity. The same _kind_ of
selective situation is almost certainly at the
basis of the human capacity.

It's undoubtedly much the same as in chimps
-- which do sweat -- when they get involved
in serious fights. An animal that can keep
going longer than its competitor will win the
conflict -- and may well then kill its opponent.
THAT'S selection.

And, of course, it is -- in effect -- only adult
males that sweat. Small infants and children
don't. Nor do females to any significant extent.

Sorry about that. I have this horrible tendency
to bring up facts. I know it's a fault, and I really
should keep quiet. After all this is not a science.
It's a gathering of the Politically Correct.

Paul.

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