Folks,
May I suggest that the Glen's page on sweating, while reflecting some of
the anthropological literature does not entirely agree with some of the
biologic research on heat removal in mammals.
Glenn seems to think that "the human sweating system is uniquely capable
of performing that function (cooling not only the face and the rest of
the body and blood." p. 91 of his ASA article He seems to think
following Bernard Campell that primates and almost all mammals sweat
very little. I know that is not true of at least the ungulates (horses
and cows etc) who do sweat well. I checked my memory out with Vaughan's
Mammology and remember reading about sweating camels in
Gauthier-Pilthers H. and Dagg A. 1981.(The camel, its evolution,
ecology, behavior, and relationship to man. University of Chicago Press.
Chicago). I know that many mammals have been shown to have sweat
glands only in some areas - but I also get the feeling that in many
cases the skin histology has simply not been done. In any case
ungulates clearly sweat efficiently and do other mammals from certain
areas of their body. Gunthier-Pilthers even state that camel sweating
under hair is more efficient and cite research done on shorn camels to
back it up.
I have previously corresponded privately and extensively with Glenn in
the past on this topic and have no desire to get into a long debate.
However, I do not see much change in his position on the current web
page and still think the anthropological literature differs from some of
the biological research on heat removal especially in desert animals.
-- James and Florence Mahaffy 712 722-0381 (Home) 227 S. Main St. 712 722-6279 (Office) Sioux Center, IA 51250
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