Posted on 12/16/2011 6:41:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Results from research conducted by a team of scholars and scientists on the dietary lives of orangutans in tropical Borneo have given possible clues to how very early human ancestors may have adapted, survived and changed millions of years ago. In addition, the results may help scientists better understand eating disorders and obesity in human populations today.
Led by evolutionary anthropologist Erin Vogel of Rutgers University (pictured below, right), the research team analyzed samples of compounds and byproducts in Orangutan urine over a 5-year period to determine the effects of protein recycling in their dietary, or eating behavior. What they found was that they have been able to survive through prolonged protein deficits by eating higher protein leaves and the inner bark of trees during lean times, as well as burning the energy from stored body fat and eventually muscles for extended times when their preferred diet of fruit is not available.
Borneo presents a very challenging environment for some of its faunal inhabitants. Many of the food-bearing plants they rely upon only produce appreciable quantities of fruit every four or five years, and when they do bear, the entire forest environment produces all at once. Animals, and particularly the orangutans, living there are thus forced to gorge themselves and gain a large amount of fat, living off their body fat reserves for the following three to four years during the cyclical "starving time". During the lean years they turn to hard foods, such as hard seeds and the starchy tissues beneath the bark of trees, supplementing the energy derived from the burning of their body fat and thus surviving an environment that otherwise would lead to starvation and death.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
They collected monkey pee for five years! who asked the orangutans to pee in the cup?
Hmmmm.....wonder why college tuition is so high.....glad they don’t have university people analyzing monkey pee to find out that if you eat too much, you put on weight.....oh......here’s another Rutgers study......they determined you can see better during the day than at night....wow.....genius.....
Perhaps they used sassafras bark which is tasty and aromatic. Also elm bark makes a soothing syrup for sore throat and cough. I think we like french fries and popcorn because we ate crunchy on the outside soft on the inside insects in quantity in the past. Remember the chimps fishing in termite/ant mounds with little twigs.
Will you have fries, popcorn, or insects with your burger? Never thought of it that way, yet the question remains. Vegetable, vegetable, or protein with that protein. Think I’ll have the fries.
I think we like the french fries with the meat because we crave the crunch and the protein. If we just ate crunchy insects like locusts/grasshoppers, we would have crunch and protein. We are genetically programed to like this nutritious combination.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
