Why Do We Have Eyelashes? New Study Says It’s to Keep Our Eyes Moist

D-brief
By Jennifer Walter
Oct 11, 2019 12:00 AMNov 18, 2019 11:52 PM
Do eyelashes exist, in part, to keep our eyes from drying out? (Credit: KDdesignphoto/Shutterstock)
Do eyelashes exist, in part, to keep our eyes from drying out? (Credit: KDdesignphoto/Shutterstock)

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Why do we have eyelashes? The answer might seem simple: Those thick hairs on the end of our eyelids simply exist to block intruding particles from landing on our eyeballs.

And, in fact, that’s what many scientists have hypothesized. It explains why camels evolved to have long lashes for wandering the dusty desert — and why our house pets, in comparison, have stumpy ones.

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