comparative chart of anatomy

[Guest guest]

listing the physiological differences between

carnivores, herbivores, and humans (frugivores). The chart I

wish eventually to post here will be far more

complete, to include carnivores, omnivores, herbivores,

graminovores, and<br>humans/frugivores. In the meantime, here

is the url for this simpler chart without as much

information, that nevertheless has some important

information.<br><br>Habib<br><br><a href=http://www.sunfood.net/fred/chart.html

target=new>http://www.sunfood.net/fred/chart.html</a>

[Guest guest]

Hey, that's a great chart, thanks for providing

the URL to it. Really makes one think. I notice a

bias toward showing the similarities between humans

and herbivores, however, which I don't necessarily

disagree with ;-), but I wonder how the opposite axis

might appear. What are some of the similarities between

humans and carnivores, I wonder.

[Guest guest]

That chart is very incomplete...I hope to provide

something more complete. Humans are not really herbivores,

we are frugivores. There are important differences.

<br><br>There is a bias toward similarities between humans and

frugivores (fruit eaters), and a bias against showing

similarities between humans and carnivores, for the very

simple reason that there are similarities between humans

and frugivores, and there are not similarities

between humans and carnivores. In all the major

biological details of a carnivores digestive anatomy and

physiology that actually matter as far as classification go,

there are certain things that ALWAYS apply to ALL

biological carnivores, with no exceptions. None of them

apply to humans, so it is not possible for us to be

biological carnivores. For instance, all carnivores secrete

uricase to break down uric acid. We don't secrete any.

The sweat glands of all carnivores are mostly

atrophied and non-functional, to keep the toxic uric acid

from their diet in more dilute suspension. They cool

themselves through panting and a wet nose. Humans and other

frugivorous primates sweat freely. For any biological

carnivore to sweat the way we do would be an evolutionary

dead-end. Carnivores cannot grind food in their mouths

because their jaws only move up and down, for tearing off

chunks of flesh in large pieces, to swallow whole, along

with fur, sinew, bone, etc. Like other fruit eaters,

humans' jaws also move side to side, for grinding nuts

and seeds to a fine consistency. No biological

carnivore can do this. Carnivores can digest large chunks

of unchewed flesh, fur, cartilage, and bone. The

hydrochloric acid secreted by their stomach is MANY times

stronger than ours, which is very weak by comparison.

Carnivores lap water, from their natural standing position.

Humans must either stoop, or use their hands or some

vessel to bring it to their mouths. They suck water,

rather than lap it. They are designed to get most of

their water from fruits and vegetables, not from

drinking. This was a protective mechanism for when they had

to stay in the trees to avoid carnivores. They could

still get the water they needed from the fruits in the

trees. Biological carnivores are able to overpower their

prey, without the use of weapons, by sheer brute force,

they have claws to grip the prey while they tear it

apart with their teeth. Humans have no built-in

physical ability to do this. There are many other details

just like these, that show humans cannot be BIOLOGICAL

carnivores. They are carnivorous by practice only, not by

biological classification. We are also not herbivores,

omnivores, or graminovores. When I have a better list, I

will try to post it.