You are all wrong! The exception does not prove the rule! On the whole, almost all primates are mostly herbivorous! And anatomically and physiologically humans are much more similar to primates than cats! To argue otherwise is ignoring basic zoology.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against meat consumption. But to argue we are primarily carnivorous is suspect.
From the University of Notre Dame:
http://ocw.nd.edu/anthropology/primate-behavior/session-5-behavioral-ecology-2
Session 4: Behavioral Ecology: Feeding
Other animal matter:
Very few primates consume mammals or other vertebrates, but some consume them opportunistically. Macaques are willing to eat anything. Animal matter is largely unreliable as a food source. It is has a variable distribution, has variable capture costs, and variable nutrient return.
Leafy material: Leafy material is the most common dietary element of primates.
• Very abundant and evenly distributed.
• Low competition.
• Extremely variable quality of nutritional value; young leaves are the most nutritive.
• Mechanical digestion is low quality; over time, degradation occurs but this is not a good method for acquisition of nutrients.
• A measure of nutrient accessibility is ADF, or the acid digestion fiber, with high ADF values representing high nutrient food with easy access.
• Seasonality is a cost of leaf consumption, specifically regarding the leaf flush.
• Secondary compounds (tannins, alkaloids, etc.) contained in leaves can be toxic to primates.
Fruits: Primates love fruits because fruits are laden with sugar.
• Patchily spaced so can be variable in space and time.
• High nutritive return due to the simplicity in digesting.
• Easy processing, if ripe, with little need for even chewing.
• High competition. Nothing has more competition than fruits.
• Seasonal availability.
Insects:
• Consumption is second only to fruits for primates.
• Has extremely variable distribution because they can be tricky to catch and eat.
• High nutritive return but due to capture costs, very few primates.
• Capture costs can be extremely high.
• Variable processing costs.
Seeds & nuts:
• Have a variable distribution.
• Have a very high nutritive return with very high processing costs due to the challenge in access and their high amount of secondary compounds.
• Only some primates consume nuts and seeds, but those that do typically have unusual adaptations for accessing.
Exudates (Tree Saps):
Tree saps have a fairly evenly distribution and have a high nutritive return. However, the high extraction costs limit access to the non-human primates with specific dental modifications. Thus, there are really a few competitors for exudates.
All consumption is opportunistic...animals get consumed less because they are quicker than plants and vegetables. Leaves are more opportunistic than specific fruits and vegetables.
If you really spent 25 seconds thinking about it you would come up with this:
In descending order of appearance:
(by percentage of time they are within the grasp of a primate)
Leaves
Plants
Vegetables
Fruits
Substantial Bugs
Small Rodents
Small Birds
Animals
This matches nicely with what primates eat by percentage. Primates, much like us, eat what they can get their hands on.
If you don’t believe me, then please explain why birds will sit on an elephant or wildebeast and pick off bugs but they won’t do the same with a monkey?
(ANSWER: Because the monkey will eat it and the bird knows this unlike yourself)
Where is my post wrong?
Not a single post that I’ve seen argues that humans are “mostly carnivorous”.
We are either vegetarians or we are omnivores.
And it has all-too-well been argued that we are in fact omnivores, not strictly vegetarian.
You might want to switch to decaff.
The hunting and killing of animals by Chimps is well documented. You are lying to others and to yourself when you say they don't. Even the Bonono chimps, who were previously thought not to kill and eat animals, have been recently documented hunting and killing other primates for food.
Chimps hunts are well organized and with some chimps driving the prey toward other chimps who kill the prey. The dead animals are then divided up according to the rank of each chimp.
We are omnivorous and are so classified, our teeth are made for eating meat and veggies but we are, and always have been, primarily meat eaters.
Golly geeeeeee RT
Let me guess.... You are a Vegan, and meat is murder?
Oh well... More tasty tasty murder meat for me and the other omnivores.
Send me your share of steak and bacon. You are more than welcome to my share of tofu and soy burgers.
Obviously, you fail to understand that expression.
Ever heard of "Proving Grounds" or the like? It means that you're testing the rule...the exception tests the rule and shows that it isn't a rule.