Primate meat consumption

From: Ray Audette (rso456_at_airmail.net)
Date: 07/25/04 

Date: 25 Jul 2004 10:01:48 -0700

All Primates eat meat. The most primitive types (Tarsiers)are purely
carnivorous, eating no vegetable material at all, eating only insects
like the insectivor mammals that are the precursors to all Primates.
Others spend much of their time gathering insects from the fur of
their fellows ( grooming) often spending more time at this than fruit
gathering. Jane Goodall became famous for being the first to document
the hunting behavior of chimps as they organizied themselves to hunt
monkeys.

Among more advanced Primates, gut morphology ( see references to "the
expensive tissue hypothesis" in the bibliography on my website)is
perhaps the best indicator of the percentage of meat that each species
eats. Those with the smallest large intestines ( capuchins and
baboons ) eat the most meat. Human large/small intestine ratios are
actually closer to wolves than to even these monkeys as in Nature
omnivorous wolves and humans eat exactly the same diet ( perhaps the
reason they domesticated us).

Gut ratios indicating meat consumption are also mirrored in the shape
of the hand in each species. Those who eat the most meat ( capuchins,
baboons, tarsiers)have the most human-like hands - much more like ours
than any ape species. A good grasp is very important when one's food
is trying to escape. Some species of gibbons for instance, whose diet
is far less carnivorous than ours, have no thumbs at all.

Of course the feature that most seperates humans from apes is our
lopsided brains. Hominid skulls are longitudinaly asymetrical even in
the most primitive types. This results in extreme eye dominance
giving hominids a unique evolutionary advantage - the ability to aim a
thrown object, allowing a man with a rock or sharp stick to kill any
animal on earth ( something a tiger cannot do). The major advantage
of bipedialism is that it frees our hands to carry such projectiles
and allows humans to run further than any animal except wolves ( the
only others species capable of runing a 26 mile marathon). Our lack of
fur and unique sweat glands provide the cooling system necessary to
accomplish such a feat. In warm climates, humans can outrun even dogs
because of this unique cooling system ( the reason the Iditerod must
be run in Alaska in winter).

Ray Audette
Author "NeanderThin"
www.NeanderThin.com

Relevant Pages

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