Some genomics experts and molecular biologists are looking into it. But apart from that, it has remained the province of evolution storytelling:
Evolutionary theorists have put forth numerous hypotheses for why humans became the naked mole rats of the primate world. Did we adapt to semi-aquatic environments? Does bare skin help us sweat to keep cool while hunting during the heat of the day? Did we lose our fur to read each other’s emotional responses such as fuming or blushing? Scientists aren’t exactly sure, but biologists are beginning to understand the physical mechanism that makes humans the naked apes. In particular, a recent study in the journal Cell Reports has begun to depilate the mystery at the molecular and genetic level.
Sarah Millar, co-senior author of the new study and a dermatology professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, explains that scientists are largely at a loss to explain why different hair patterns appear across human bodies. “We have really long hair on our scalps and short hair in other regions, and we’re hairless on our palms and the underside of our wrists and the soles of our feet,” she says. “No one understands really at all how these differences arise.” Jason Daley, “Why Did Humans Lose Their Fur?” at Smithsonian Magazine
The theories you can read about at the link are as creative as you might expect.
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See also: Claim: Sweating made humans the dominant species on Earth
and
Astrobiologist: Are humans freaks of nature?