Comment by ravenstine

Although it may seem surprising to some that humans put on more fat than their fellow apes, this is at least somewhat predictable when you look at other ways in which humans are different from other apes.

Putting aside our intellect, we our developing towards having little to no fur came with the benefit of being able to sweat, which means we could track animals further than they could persist. It allowed us to effectively outrun, or outwalk, herds of animals.

That comes with a tradeoff, which is the lack of fur means not being able to retain as much heat in the cold. Being able to store more fat is the obvious alternative.