• Question from:Christopher

Do male (or female) chimpanzees get acne at or around the time of sexual maturity? 

If so, do other primates?  Do other non-primate mammals?  How far back does this trend of puberty-pimples go?

If not, what's made us so special?  Is acne a trade-off for some other advantage (e.g. are we oilier, or more soaked in testosterone at puberty than other primates, for some good reason that has acne as an unpleasant side-effect)?

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  • University of Bristol
  • Posts: 560

Hi Christopher:

From what I have read, it seems that chimpanzees don't get acne 'naturally' probably because their sebaceous glands are not as active as those in humans. There have been a number of comments about acne's evolutionary role - Darwin was even interested in it! – see http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u … 463755.ece

I don't know if diet may also have something to do with it, as in humans – see http://www.skintherapyletter.com/2010/15.3/1.html

but various compounds in the environment (e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs) apparently can cause acne in non-human primates – see http://www.jstor.org/stable/3428184

Last edited by Steve Lolait (20th May 2010 20:13:26)