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From Carnivore to Herbivore
smooth wombat wrote in to mention an a recent discovery in the field of evolutionary biology. From the article: "A surprising discovery in Utah has paleontologists scratching their heads and asking: Why would a carnivore evolve a herbivorous diet? The species, christened Falcarius utahensis, belongs to a dinosaur group called the therizinosauroids. These are mostly thought to have been plant eaters. But the recently discovered fossil, the most primitive therizinosauroid found so far, seems to have survived on a mixed diet of meat and vegtables...The switch to vegetarianism is surprising, says Paul Barrett, who studies dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in London. The therizinosauroids belong to a larger group of dinosaurs known as theropods, and many of these are known to have been excellent at catching a meaty meal. "
Maybe the designer wasn't so intelligent after all, seeing as how he kept changing his mind.
After all, I am strangely colored.
The next time somebody waxes on about the virtues of the Atkin's Diet I can tell them that even the dinosaurs got sick of it.
Making the moon less necessary since 1998.
Not just vegetarian, but omnivorous.
"Although the team cannot know whether Falcarius was a committed vegetarian - it may have eaten a bit of meat, too - its emergence did coincide neatly with the evolution of flowering plants."
Why evolve to eat plants and animals? I dunno, but it works for me too!
"At the same time Falcarius appeared, the world was changing greatly because flowering plants were appearing," Dr Sampson said. "They would have provided a new food source. It could be that Falcarius was exploiting an open ecological niche."
In biology class, one of the things you learn is that plants have the most energy-to-size ratio (i forget the actual term). Then you have the primary group of animals (cows, rabbits, anything that eats plants), then the first tier of carnivores (animals that eat the plant eaters), then you have another tier that eats the first tier of carnivores (us, generally).
As you go up the food chain, you get less energy from the meat.
So perhaps this animal simply decided that munching on grass was more efficient than killing a T-rex?
Josh
hookers and grits.
Furthermore, the chain for a carnivore is simply longer by one (plants->herbivores->carnivore)
The Raven
Am I the only one that saw the headline and thought of a new FBI internet tap with a friendly plant-like image?
Potatoes don't run fast or put up much of a fight.
A given amount of land can support more grazers than carnivores.
Switching to an omnivorous diet means that there will be more of them.
No mammal or reptile is strictly a "vegetarian". None of these animals can convert cellulose into glucose, they ALL require bacteria to do this for them. It is obvious why some animals evolved to eat plants: there simply wasn't enough meat available for them to consume. Over time, their bodies evolved adaptions such as larger and multiple stomachs to regulate the gas biproducts of bacterial decomposition of cellulose. This is why humans have to cook their food, we simply cannot survive on a truly natural vegetarian diet. Our stomachs are too small.
Without exception, all animals can eat meat. Even the cow retains the ability to produce bile acids to break down fat, the primary source of energy for most predator mammals.
I don't read or respond to AC posts
Humans, incidentally, have been natural herbivores for hundreds of thousands of years
Ah yes, you bring to mind the ancient cave paintings of carrots, apples and bottled water. Your statement is further backed up by general recommendations that modern strict vegetarians take vitamin supplments to alleviate the deficiencies in Vitamins B12 and D.
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
>alleviate the deficiencies in Vitamins B12 and D
Vitamin D is a hormone you synthesize in your skin from exposure to ultraviolet light (usually from the Sun). You might be interested to know that Vitamin D is ADDED to milk as a supplement.
B12 is from bacteria in soil. Historically it was also present in running water as it erodes soil. Modern agriculture depletes topsoil and consumers over-clean produce; historically you would eat a little dirt and thus get the B12, which has an RDA in MICROgrams.
Staying indoors and avoiding dirt are both side-effects of modern living, but evolutionarily, there is no reason being a plant-eating human would cause a deficit of these nutrients.
Modern life makes up for shortcomings with a pill. So, take your pick.
Obviously, Falcarius utahensis got a girlfriend.
Tomato and spinach pizza, wtf.
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Now I am not an authority on this, but vitamin B12 is only found in amounts sufficient for our dietary needs in animal products like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy and is essential for proper nervous system function. If you're one of the "strict" vegetarians out there you must supplement your all vegetable diet with B12 or run the risk of developing nerve damage or neurological disease (among other complications). You cannot meet all of your dietary requirements from an all-vegetable diet unless you take supplements.
While I would agree that a vegetarian diet is certainly healthier than what most people eat, the fact is a balanced diet from all the food groups including animal products is not only wise but absolutely necessary for a healthy human body. If my memory of biology class is correct just about every herbivore has to eat an enormous amount of plant material to sustain themselves, with specialized digestive sytems. Why do you think a cow has four stomachs?
I watched my sister fade away on a stict vegan diet and even with supplements it wasn't enough. She re-introduced a weekly serving of meat and noticed a huge improvement in her mood and energy level. Her experience taught me that a balanced diet is more important than focusing on any one particular food group and my diet is the better for it.