People often think that I make up some of the things that I tell them. Suppose I told you that the reason humans are the only hairless apes is because mothers in the stone age used to ignore ugly hairy babies and favor the pretty hairless ones if there needed to be a choice. Would you believe me? Well, a respectable, award-winning paper is saying so. And I have the links to prove it.
Harris’ paper describes Stone Age societies in which the mother of a newborn had to decide whether she had the resources to nurture her baby. The newborn’s appearance probably influenced whether the mother kept or abandoned it. An attractive baby was more likely to be kept and reared.
Harris’ theory is that this kind of parental selection may have been an important force in evolution. If Stone Age people believed that hairless babies were more attractive than hairy ones, this could explain why humans are the only apes lacking a coat of fur. Harris suggests that Neanderthals must have been furry in order to survive the Ice Age. Our species would have seen them as “animals” and potential prey. Harris’ hypothesis continues that Neanderthals went extinct because human ancestors ate them.
See full article. You can also see the original paper.