7 Animals That Sweat

Sweat might be messy, smelly, and generally unappealing, but it is a uniquely human phenomenon that helps to make us what we are. Perspiration is a cooling mechanism that kicks in to keep the internal body temperature at a reasonable 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Primarily composed of water, potassium, salt, and other minerals, sweat literally serves to release excess heat generated by the muscles when other methods of cooling have failed. Otherwise, if we did not sweat, we would overheat and die. But did you know that there are animals that sweat, too?

Despite how necessary it is for human health, perspiration is actually a rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom. True sweating is mostly limited to primates and equines. Instead, most animals have evolved to regular their body temperature in all kinds of different ways, include panting, rolling around in the mud, swimming in the water, lounging in shade, and urinating or defecating all over one’s body. Some animals also have exceptionally long ears with a lot of blood vessels that release excess heat into the air.

The anatomy of sweating is critical to understanding how it works. To simplify things a little, there are generally two different types of sweat glands: the apocrine glands and eccrine glands. Apocrine glands, located near the base of the hair follicles, have primarily evolved for the purpose of producing odors as pheromones, territorial markers, and warning signals; they’re very rarely used to cool the body on warm days (though there are some exceptions). Eccrine glands, located close to the surface of the skin, mostly produce sweat for the purpose of thermoregulation.

The majority of mammals are covered in apocrine glands over most of their body. Primates (chimps and gorillas in particular) are the only group of mammals with a relatively high number of eccrine glands in comparison to apocrine glands.

Humans are likewise the only species on the planet whose bodies are almost completely covered in eccrine glands (except for a few places like the armpits, ear canals, eyelids, and nipples). We contain between two million and five million of these glands all over our bodies. Together they produce around 12 liters of sweat a day, more than any other animal.

The evolution of (relatively) bare skin was believed to be a necessary precondition for the evolution of sweat in humans. Sweat easily evaporates from bare skin, whereas it would accumulate and gather around dense hair follicles, which would have a counterproductive effect. The evolution of sweat in turn allowed humans to hunt game over long distances on hot days, while most other species would easily overheat.

With all that background detail in place, this article will consider the top 7 animals (besides humans) that produce some form of perspiration. The list will only include the animals that sweat to release heat, cool the body, or moisturize the skin in some way. It will not include general perspiration for other survival purposes.

#7 Animal That Sweats: Horses and Donkeys

Anyone who has ever worked with horses for long enough will notice that they do have the ability to produce a type of foam or lather over their bodies, particularly around the hind legs and neck, when exercising or working in hot environments. This foam resembles sweat in many ways, but it actually contains a unique protein called latherin that gives the sweat a foamy appearance.

The latherin allows the perspiration to work through the entire surface of the waterproof hair, from the base to the tip. This in turn increases its exposure to air so it will eventually evaporate from the body. Latherin is also present in saliva, where it helps the horse to chew high-fiber foods.

When it’s working particularly hard, a horse can easily lose around 4 gallons of sweat per hour, depending on the intensity of the exercise and the temperature of the surrounding environment. By comparison, a horse typically drinks between 10 and 20 gallons of water per day. The effectiveness of this cooling system reduces the need for the horse to pant very much in hot conditions, and it may be a sign of a health problem if the horse cannot properly sweat.

The horse is not the only member of the equine group with the ability to produce foamy latherin-laced sweat. It’s also been a well-documented phenomenon in donkeys as well. The latherin seems to serve much of the same purpose.

#6Animal That Sweats: Zebras

Zebras, just like horses and donkeys, are a member of the genus Equus. It’s, therefore, no surprise that their bodies also have the ability to create the same foamy latherin that helps to facilitate evaporation and cooling around the hair. What’s particularly fascinating about the zebra is that the latherin might interact with the stripes in unique ways. Some scientists have speculated that erect black hairs could promote sweat evaporation during the hottest parts of the day.

The evolution of zebra stripes still remains a contentious subject, however, and thermoregulation is just one hypothesis among many others.

#5Animal That Sweats: Chimpanzees

The chimpanzee is often said to be humanity’s closest living relative because we share some 98.8% of the same DNA. One of the traits we share in common with them is the ability to sweat.

As mentioned previously, chimpanzees have a high ratio of eccrine to apocrine glands, presumably to help them regulate the temperature of their bodies. Nevertheless, their sweating isn’t quite as efficient as a person’s, both because of a lower density of glands on their skin and because of their thick fur. For this reason, the chimpanzee still relies on other methods to stay cool.

#4Animal That Sweats: Gorillas

Another close human relative, gorillas also have the ability to sweat in warm weather to remain cool and comfortable, but thermoregulation is only one purpose of the sweat glands.

Just like chimpanzees and humans, gorillas have a specialized tissue called axilla or axillary organ located on the armpits. This organ is particularly pronounced in male gorillas. It is composed of four to six layers of glands that secrete sweat and other scents. This actually serves the primary purpose of facilitating communication within the entire group. The scent provides an alarm signal to other group members when potential threats are lurking nearby. It’s also a useful sign of reproductive availability.

For some unknown reason, humans still retain the strong armpit odor, despite seemingly serving little purpose. This has generated a bit of a scientific mystery.

#3Animal That Sweats: Old World Monkeys

The Old World monkey is an entire family of primates, mostly native to Africa and Asia. Macaques and baboons are the most well-known members of this group. It does not include New World monkeys, like marmosets and tamarins, as well as the lemurs of Madagascar.

The macaque is a genus of Old World monkeys; there are 23 species within this group, most of them native to Asia. The best-known species are probably the Rhesus macaque and the Japanese macaque. While they do have the ability to sweat, it’s not quite as pronounced as their great ape cousins. This is probably due to the fact that they have a fairly even split between eccrine and apocrine glands on their skin.

The baboon is another genus of Old World monkeys, comprising six distinct species native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They are characterized by a dog-like muzzle, powerful jaws, sharp teeth, short tails, a relatively large body size, and protruding buttocks. Baboons also appear to have quite a few eccrine glands covering their bodies. Some studies confirm that they do, in fact, produce sweat in response to heat.

#2Animal That Sweats: Dogs

You may be a little surprised to learn that dogs have a cluster of eccrine glands (sometimes also called merocrine glands) around their paw pads. These have a similar function as human sweat glands to cool the body. If you look closely, you can sometimes see perspiration gathering around the paws during a hot day. The relatively bare skin makes perspiration possible. But this is also why the sweat is restricted to the paw pads only.

Because of their thick fur, dogs cannot sweat over most of their bodies. They must still pant to remain cool.

#1Animal That Sweats: Hippopotamus

Despite popular misconception, the hippopotamus does not produce true sweat at all, but it’s still fascinating for a different reason. This big semi-aquatic African herbivore secretes a red sticky mucus-filled liquid that functions as a kind of moisturizer, sunscreen, and antibiotic. This perspiration is initially colorless, but it actually turns red and brown when reacting with certain pigments. People have given it the nickname of blood sweat, even though it contains neither blood nor true sweat. While the perspiration is incredibly useful, it doesn’t serve the purpose of thermoregulation.

In order to stay cool, the hippo likes to roll around in the mud or remain mostly submerged in the water during the day.

Next up: The Top 8 Craziest Animal Adaptations