ANT 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Folivore, Frugivore, Incisor
12 Oct 2016
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Why did we become bipedal, get big brains, small canines, and make tools: answer often tied to a dietary change, plausible, Diet affects these variables in other animals. Need hands free to hunt, need to make weapons, need to outsmart p(cid:396)e(cid:455), do(cid:374)"t (cid:374)eed (cid:272)a(cid:374)i(cid:374)es if (cid:455)ou ha(cid:448)e tools. Most primates eat a mixture of about 2 of these: folivore = more leaves (or grass) than anything else, frugivore = more fruit than anything else. Mammals need protein and energy (carbs: folivore = protein and carbs from leaves. Carbs locked up in cellulose, hard to break down: frugivore = carbs (sugar) from fruit, protein from small amounts of insects and leaves. Insectivore = protein from insects, usually add some fruit or tree sap for carbs (sugar) Carnivores (non-primates) = get it from eating other mammals. But most animals are limited to one dietary strategy. Diet of mammal is reflected in numerous adaptations.
