From: Discover Magazine

Why Do We Have Eyebrows and Other Types of Facial Hair?

We humans seem to have an on-again, off-again relationship with facial hair.

Prehistoric cave drawings reveal the myriad tools our ancient ancestors used to shave: shark’s teeth, sharpened flints and even clam shells. Nowadays, beards are back in style and people are taking a razor to their brows, instead.

But is there a reason we evolved to have these hairy baubles in the first place? And, if so, what evolutionary advantage might we be throwing away for the sake of staying on trend

Turns out, researchers have a lot to say on the matter. Get their answers to why we have eyebrows, what eyelashes are for and why we grow beards.

Read the whole story (subscription may be required): Discover Magazine


APS regularly opens certain online articles for discussion on our website. Effective February 2021, you must be a logged-in APS member to post comments. By posting a comment, you agree to our Community Guidelines and the display of your profile information, including your name and affiliation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations present in article comments are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of APS or the article’s author. For more information, please see our Community Guidelines.

Please login with your APS account to comment.