You’ve probably heard of the expression, sweat like a pig. Well, depending on where in the world you live. You might even know what it really means. But it got me to thinking this morning.
I went out for my morning walk, even though it was already getting hot at 7 AM. By the time I got back, you guessed it, I was sweating. Naturally, I thought about sweating like a pig. But then I remember, pigs don’t sweat! That’s why that little guy – or gal(?) in the picture is all covered in mud. Since they don’t sweat, rolling around in mud is how they cool off.
Horses and sweat
It seemed like a much better expression would be “sweat like a horse”. It seems even more appropriate, given this:
A horse can sweat (and should sweat) during exercise; may sweat when it is in pain, under duress, or ill; and may sweat when nervous. You will see horses sweat when going on a trail ride, running in a race, even while being trailered. Remember, sweat is both a sign of a healthy horse, but can also be a sign of a horse that needs help. 1https://equestrianco.com/blogs/latest/do-horses-sweat
That sounds just like people, doesn’t it? Some sweat is a good thing. Too much could indicate overheating, even approaching heat-stroke.
Dogs and sweat
And what about dogs? I’ve always heard dogs don’t really sweat – they cool off by way of their tongues. Here’s what the American Kennel Club says:
There’s a reason why you’ve never seen your dog sweat in the same way you do, and that’s because dogs only produce sweat in certain parts of their bodies. Dogs have two types of sweat glands:
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- Merocrine glands
- Apocrine glands
Merocrine sweat glands function similarly to human sweat glands. These glands are located in your dog’s paw pads and activate when he is hot to cool him down. This is why you might notice damp paw prints on the ground during particularly hot days. Most dogs are covered in fur, so sweat would fail to evaporate from their bodies. That’s why it is much more efficient for dogs to have sweat glands in their paw pads, where there is little fur.
Apocrine sweat glands are different from merocrine. While veterinarians consider them to be sweat glands, their main purpose is to release pheromones, not cool your dog off. These glands are located all over your canine companion’s body and help him identify other dogs by scent, kind of like human body odor. 2https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/do-dogs-sweat/
Pigs, sweat, mud and evolution
Of course, that got me to thinking about evolution. You know – how come pigs don’t sweat? People sweat. Our dogs sweat, sort of. Horses sweat. So why not pigs? I’m sure evolutionary science has an answer! Sure enough, they do.
In a BBC article titled, Pigs have ‘evolved to love mud’, we read the following:
His (Marc Bracke, a researcher in the Netherlands) conclusions suggest that wallowing is vital for the animals’ well-being.
The study is published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
It is already well accepted that pigs use wallows to keep cool. The animals do not have normal sweat glands, so they are unable, otherwise, to regulate their body temperature.
The scientist who carried out the study, Marc Bracke from Wageningen University and Research Centre, trawled the scientific literature for evidence of what motivates other animals to carry out similar behaviours.
He examined closely related “wallowers”, including hippos, which spend their time in water to keep cool.
Dr Bracke also looked at other hoofed animals, such as deer. Although these animals do not wallow, they roll on the ground in order to “scent mark”, which has an important role in attracting a mate.
That analysis has led Dr Bracke to propose that mud wallowing, like rolling, could play a role in reproduction in pigs.
But more fundamentally, Dr Bracke suggests the behaviour could have evolved in pigs’ most ancient relatives.
“We all evolved from fish, so it could be that this motivation to be in water could be something that was preserved in animals that are able to do so.”
For many animals, this would be too dangerous, because watering holes are ideal places for predators to ambush their prey.
“But pigs, like many carnivores, are relatively large animals with enlarged canine teeth, so they would be better able to fend off an attack.”
So rather than pigs needing to cool down in mud because they do not have [functional] sweat glands, Dr Bracke thinks that they “did not evolve functional sweat glands like other ungulates because they liked wallowing so much”. 3http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9464000/9464994.stm
People, sweat, mud and evolution
Do you realize the implications of this?
It is already well accepted that pigs use wallows to keep cool. People, at least most of us, aren’t into wallowing in mud – even to keep cool.
other hoofed animals, such as deer. Although these animals do not wallow, they roll on the ground in order to “scent mark”, which has an important role in attracting a mate. I’m glad people don’t have hooves, so we don’t have to do this rolling on the ground to attract a mate. Some might, but most of us don’t.
We all evolved from fish, so it could be that this motivation to be in water could be something that was preserved in animals that are able to do so. Many people do like to spend time in the water. This must be a serious problem for those who don’t live anywhere near water and don’t have a swimming pool. Although, even though I’m within driving distance of the ocean, I have to say that need to be in it must be severely repressed in me. I feel no such need. In fact, I don’t swim. I do snorkel sometimes while on vacation – although even then I have to spend the first 5-10 minutes getting over my dear of drowning our there. And it’s not even that deep.
For many animals, this would be too dangerous, because watering holes are ideal places for predators to ambush their prey.
“But pigs, like many carnivores, are relatively large animals with enlarged canine teeth, so they would be better able to fend off an attack.”
So apparently pigs could cool off in water, but they choose not to. Good choice – then they don’t have to learn to swim!
So rather than pigs needing to cool down in mud because they do not have [functional] sweat glands, Dr Bracke thinks that they “did not evolve functional sweat glands like other ungulates because they liked wallowing so much”. The bottom line then is that pigs evolved to cool off in mud, because they prefer mud to water!
Sweat, mud and evolution – conclusion
Are you kidding me? Pigs evolved to wallow in mud, because that’s what they liked doing?
Do you know what that means for us people? We must have evolved to sweat like crazy because that’s what we like to do!!??
Seriously? Then why do we spend so much money on deodorants and antiperspirants? Why don’t we just evolve to have some other way to cool off? Surely, we’re smarter than pigs, aren’t we? If a pig can evolve to roll around in mud – what can’t people evolve to coll off in a manner that we at least like?
What does sweat like a pig really mean?
Obviously, I hope, that was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at sweating like a pig. However, there are two points to be made.
First – I feel sorry for evolutionists who have to go through such wild thinking to come up with “answers”. Why is it so hard to think that maybe each species is what we are – because a Divine Creator made us that way? The logic I used above should show just how outlandish some of these evolutionary “answers” are. If I managed to generate some interest, I invite you to check out It’s time for Christians to acknowledge what Darwin REALLY did.
Second – here’s what pigs sweating is really about:
When pig iron is originally created from iron ore, the smelter needs to heat the ore to extreme temperatures, and then move the liquid metal into the mold. Until the liquid cools, it can’t be safely moved, as the extremely hot metal is liable to spill, burning whatever it comes in contact with.
How does the smelter know when the metal is cool enough to transport? When the “pigs” “sweat.” As the metal cools, the air around it reaches the dew point, causing droplets to form on the metal’s surface. 4https://www.neatorama.com/2011/08/29/the-expression-sweating-like-a-pig-has-nothing-to-do-with-pigs/
Hope you enjoyed and learned something from this. Have a fun day!
Image by Rasterlocke from Pixabay
Footnotes
- 1https://equestrianco.com/blogs/latest/do-horses-sweat
- 2https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/do-dogs-sweat/
- 3http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9464000/9464994.stm
- 4https://www.neatorama.com/2011/08/29/the-expression-sweating-like-a-pig-has-nothing-to-do-with-pigs/