Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
Biol Lett. 2012 Jun 23;8(3):358-61. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0987. Epub 2011 Dec 14.
Although we are relatively naked in comparison with other primates, the human body is covered in a layer of fine hair (vellus and terminal hair) at a relatively high follicular density. There are relatively few explanations for the evolutionary maintenance of this type of human hair. Here, we experimentally test the hypothesis that human fine body hair plays a defensive function against ectoparasites (bed bugs). Our results show that fine body hair enhances the detection of ectoparasites through the combined effects of (i) increasing the parasite's search time and (ii) enhancing its detection.
虽然与其他灵长类动物相比,人类的身体相对裸露,但人体表面仍覆盖着一层细小的毛发(毫毛和终毛),且毛囊密度相对较高。对于这种人类毛发的进化维持,目前还没有太多解释。在这里,我们通过实验来检验人类细小体发具有防御寄生虫(臭虫)侵害的假说。我们的研究结果表明,细小体发通过增加寄生虫的搜索时间和增强其探测能力这两种方式的综合作用,提高了对寄生虫的探测效果,从而增强了对寄生虫的防御作用。