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7/10/2025, 5:40:28 PM
>>17830210
>Is meat eating an evolutionary mystery?
Meat is an ample source of digestible calories and protein so there is a strong evolutionary impetus to consume meat. A tree climbing animal can find and digest insects and grubs easily which provides an evolutionary stepping stone to evolve enzymes that help break down protein and then to tougher red meat.
>Humans are the only ones in the great ape family that eat a significant amount of meat.
Chimpanzees eat a significant amount of meat and are often seen hunting other monkeys and have very pronounced canines. Orangutans eat many insects. Gorillas sometimes eat ants and termites. Many other monkeys eat meat.
>But human teeth which are designed for eating fruit cannot tear flesh easily
Our lack of pronounced canines is due to human tool use, both as weapons and carving animals, so our ancestors with shorter canines were not selected against.
>and digestive system has difficulty digesting it.
Humans can digest raw meat, however it takes more energy and due to our ability to cook food we are not as strongly geared for it as a dedicated carnivore like a panther.
>Meat also is linked with a shorter life expectancy.
The link is due to obesity and other bad habits not the meat itself. Being able to acquire meat from your environment would increase the life expectancy of a prehistoric hunter gatherer before modern medicine and with a far greater risk of starvation.
>It is said that fire drove the evolution of intelligence
There were many factors in favor of intelligence, tool use came before fire, however fire was very significant since it both opened up more opportunities for hominids and also increased selective pressure towards intelligence in order to take advantage of these opportunities.
>Is meat eating an evolutionary mystery?
Meat is an ample source of digestible calories and protein so there is a strong evolutionary impetus to consume meat. A tree climbing animal can find and digest insects and grubs easily which provides an evolutionary stepping stone to evolve enzymes that help break down protein and then to tougher red meat.
>Humans are the only ones in the great ape family that eat a significant amount of meat.
Chimpanzees eat a significant amount of meat and are often seen hunting other monkeys and have very pronounced canines. Orangutans eat many insects. Gorillas sometimes eat ants and termites. Many other monkeys eat meat.
>But human teeth which are designed for eating fruit cannot tear flesh easily
Our lack of pronounced canines is due to human tool use, both as weapons and carving animals, so our ancestors with shorter canines were not selected against.
>and digestive system has difficulty digesting it.
Humans can digest raw meat, however it takes more energy and due to our ability to cook food we are not as strongly geared for it as a dedicated carnivore like a panther.
>Meat also is linked with a shorter life expectancy.
The link is due to obesity and other bad habits not the meat itself. Being able to acquire meat from your environment would increase the life expectancy of a prehistoric hunter gatherer before modern medicine and with a far greater risk of starvation.
>It is said that fire drove the evolution of intelligence
There were many factors in favor of intelligence, tool use came before fire, however fire was very significant since it both opened up more opportunities for hominids and also increased selective pressure towards intelligence in order to take advantage of these opportunities.
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