26Depression
Depression (characterized by low energy, social withdrawal, etc.) is believed to be an evolutionary response that was advantageous to many humans to reduce the likelihood of them catching contagious diseases.
27. The human eye is different from most animals in that we have a large sclera, the white part of the eye. It’s theorized that we evolved this so we could silently communicate where we are looking.
28. Due to human interaction, domestic sheep have evolved to require humans to shear them. Their wool never sheds.
29. A saltwater lake on the Pacific island of Palau was cut off from the ocean sometime in the past and it is now inhabited with a particular species of jellyfish. As natural predators have been sealed off from the lake, this species of jellyfish have harmless stingers due to evolutionary regression. Therefore swimming in the lake is safe and permitted.
30. The smell of the air after a storm is caused by Geosmin: a chemical released by dead soil bacteria. Humans are hypersensitive to it, capable of detecting it at a concentration of 5 parts per trillion. It is theorized that in our evolutionary past this helped us seek out water.
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31Sweatiest Primates
Humans are the sweatiest primates alive. We have up to five million sweat glands producing a maximum of three gallons of sweat per day. The production of sweat glands is inversely related to the production of hair, and the evolutionary loss of our hair is connected to our success as a species.
32. Scientists say caesarian births are “affecting human evolution” because women with narrow hips are spreading this genetic predisposition to their daughters.
33. The extra layer of skin over the eye of 90% Asiatic people is called the “epicanthic fold” and it is theorized to have evolved as a protection against cold and snow blindness.
34. The Stoned Ape Theory, which is a controversial theory from Terence McKenna states that a lot of our advanced human evolution came as a result of the ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms by our primate ancestors.
35. Dogs evolved the specific muscles that give them the ability to raise their inner eyebrows more than 33,000 years ago; as they were domesticated. It’s an evolutionary trick used to manipulate humans.
