As a PhD student at Oxford studying mating behaviour(交配行为), Judy Wearing was suddenly struck by a thought: what was the purpose of pubic hair(阴毛)? The point of armpit hair(腋毛)? The function of each of our body’s furry patches? When the published literature failed to produce satisfying answers, Wearing began her own investigation. Her aim was to shed light on why exactly we evolved these particular patches, with pubic hair the most puzzling of all: was it for warmth, protection … or something else?(她的目标是揭示我们究竟为何进化出这些特定的毛发区域，其中阴毛最令人费解：是为了保暖、保护……还是另有原因？)
在牛津大学攻读交配行为学博士时，朱迪·韦林突然被一个念头击中：阴毛有什么用？腋毛有什么用？我们身上每一块毛茸茸的区域又有什么功能？已发表的文献无法给出令人满意的答案，于是韦林开始了自己的研究。她的目标是揭示我们究竟为何进化出这些特定的毛发区域，其中阴毛最令人费解：是为了保暖、保护……还是另有原因？
Wearing is still tangling with(与……纠缠、应对) those questions, some 30 years after her student days. Now an author and editor (largely in the education sector), she has revisited her fascination with hair in Anxious and Hairy: The Evolution and Culture of Human Hair, exploring its unexpectedly dense and layered place in our history and psyche(心灵、心理). Even Wearing was surprised by the places her research on hair took her, and the mysteries that still remain to be solved.(就连韦林自己也没想到毛发研究把她带到了哪些地方，以及还有哪些谜团有待解开。) “A lot of these questions, no one’s actually looked at,” she says over Zoom. Here is a mere snip(冰山一角、一小部分) of the fascinating facts she’s uncovered about hair.
距离学生时代已过去约30年，韦林仍在与这些问题纠缠。如今她是一名作家兼编辑（主要在教育领域），她在《焦虑与多毛：人类毛发的进化与文化》一书中重新审视了自己对毛发的痴迷，探索了毛发在我们历史与心灵中出人意料地密集而多层次的位置。就连韦林自己也没想到毛发研究把她带到了哪些地方，以及还有哪些谜团有待解开。“很多这些问题，其实根本没人研究过，”她在Zoom采访中说。以下只是她所发现的关于毛发的有趣事实的冰山一角。
1. Hair originated with giant furry lizards
1. 毛发起源于巨大的毛茸茸的蜥蜴
Hair, or fur, evolved about 245 million years ago with cynodonts(犬齿兽类), the warm-blooded reptilian ancestors of all mammals, including humans. They had fur for insulation(保暖、隔热), preventing heat from escaping their bodies. Fossil evidence of the wolf-like Cynognathus(犬颌兽，一种三叠纪的似哺乳爬行动物) suggests it also had whiskers: super sensitive, tactile(触觉的) hairs that provide valuable sensory input.
毛发（或皮毛）大约在2.45亿年前随犬齿兽类一起进化而来，犬齿兽类是包括人类在内的所有哺乳动物的温血爬行动物祖先。它们长有皮毛用于保暖，防止热量从体内散失。狼形犬颌兽的化石证据表明，它还有胡须：一种极其敏感、具有触觉的毛发，能提供宝贵的感官信息。
2. Hairy or scaly, we’re made of the same stuff
2. 无论多毛还是长鳞，我们由同样的物质构成
3. Your crowning glory is a pile-up of dead cells
3. 你头顶的荣耀是一堆死细胞
4. It’s not just ‘breast or bottle’
4. 不只是“母乳还是奶瓶”的问题
5. We are not-so-naked apes …
5. 我们并非那么赤裸的猿类……
6. … and terminally patchy
6. ……而且终末毛发分布不均
7. The eyes have it
7. 眼睛说了算
8. Botox curbs empathy
8. 肉毒杆菌会抑制共情
9. Body odour is a broadcast
9. 体味是一种广播
10. What about beards?
10. 那胡须呢？
11. Balding is not so bad
11. 秃顶没那么糟
12. Hair is a health indicator
12. 头发是健康指标
13. Hair heals
13. 头发能疗伤
14. Styling has a long history …
14. 造型历史悠久……
15. … and not just for the rich
15. ……而且不只是富人的专利
16. Some gentlemen did prefer blondes
16. 有些绅士确实偏爱金发女郎
17. Lighter hair may let in more light
17. 浅色头发可能让更多光线进入
18. Hair can express, and oppress
18. 头发既能表达，也能压迫
19. A ‘Hollywood wax’ is not so LA
19. “好莱坞式蜜蜡脱毛”其实不那么洛杉矶
20. So … what is the purpose of pubic hair?
20. 那么……阴毛到底有什么用？