.png)
I have recently been thinking a lot about this, and done some reading, because in the ABDL world we talk about nappies (diapers) a lot, but few times I have stopped and think about sphincters and their control, and why and when did this happened. I will tell you a bit about it, as I am fascinated to learn, and you might be curious.
Humans are different to other animals in this area, since cats and dogs and other domesticable animals learn to control when they poo or when they wee, but this is as a result of humans training them. There are a few other animals who have managed to get some kind of control of this type, but really not like humans. Bare exceptions, humans have managed to control their bladders and sphincters quite a lot, fos social, cultural and psychological factors. This starts during the potty training period, something that other animals never experience and they would eliminate just as they feel and wherever they are.
I found that just only certain marine mammals (dolphins and whales), beavers, some insects and some birds, like the penguins, have some degree of control over their wee and poo. Penguins choose to defecate away from their nests, and sometimes organise the time in wich they do this in relation with their behaviour in the group.
Other than that... I have not find many more animals with such control. But when did humans started to have it?
Two to four million years ago, our ancesters such as the Australopithecus and Homo habilis, probably had minimal voluntary control over their sphincters. They would pee and poo at any time, just following their physiological need, and their capacity to control bladder and bowel movements was basic.
Later in time, 1.9 million to 110,000 years ago, our ancestor the Homo Erectus, had some advances in the size of their brain, enough to use tools and cooperate with others. This could have allowed them for some early sphincter control, and it makes sense because it's the time where humans started to live together in social groups and create shared spaces where to live. And as they are sharing, there would be a need to reduce or regulate the waste to avoid contamination in the group.
400,000 to 40,000 years ago, the Neandertal, had a bigger brain and more complex social behaviour, and more control over their wee and poo. They would need it to be able to live with some higiene in shared living spaces, and having developed more social rules.
Since 200,000 to the present time, the modern human, Homo Sapiens had larger brain regions and more cognitive ability, and that includes impulse control and being able to plan! This would mean they are likely to be able to control urination and defecation better than anyone of their ancestors.
Okay, but what do we know about nappies?
10,000 years ago, in hunter-gatherer societies babies would still poo naturally, with their caregivers always in close contact with the baby, instead of using a nappy they would just use their instict and observation to predict when the baby is going to eliminate, so they could move them as they need, no need for a nappy.
10,000 to 5,000 years ago, in agricultural societies, this would change. As there are more
settled communities, they need to find a way to manage waste and for public health and hygiene reasons, people would be likely to start using basic cloth or animal skins to wrap a baby and contain the waste.
It was in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Rome where we have evidences of the use of simple cloths or plant-based materials as nappies. The nappy is born! They where fastened with betls or strings, or around the waist (such as the terry towel nappy that you know today).
I hope you have enjoed this story. I could tell you about nappies in the 1940s, and how did they change until today. But that is a story for another day...