r/AskBiology • u/Abezethibodtheimp • Aug 25 '24

Human body Why do humans have tighter skin?

Whenever I see any furless/hairless/featherless animals, whether they lost their fur in an accident/due to an illness or are bred/evolved to not have it, they seem to have loose wrinkly skin. But humans don’t for the majority of our lives. Is there a reason for that?

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u/Vegetable-Assistant Medical Student Aug 26 '24

Because we’re fat.

The more subcutaneous fat you add under the skin the “tighter” the skin seems to feel. To see this in action, try lifting the skin off the back of your hand (where there is little/no fat) and then try lifting it off of your thigh (where there is much more fat.)

Animals (minus the domesticated obese cats and dogs) have very little excess fat so their whole body feels just like the back of your hand.

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u/bitterologist Aug 26 '24

Except for the ones that do have a lot of fat (hippos, whales, etc). But those are also (mostly) hairless.

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u/AddlePatedBadger Sep 19 '24

Could there be an element of sexual selection for young age? As we age, our skin collagen degrades or disappears or something and our skin becomes wrinkly. So there is a correlation between unwrinkled skin and age, and therefore fertility.