4 ms·
> We are omnivores, we can subsist on many things, meat being one of them. True, but I personally find it interesting that we have the smallest cecum and short
by pravus 4y ago
> We are omnivores, we can subsist on many things, meat being one of them.
True, but I personally find it interesting that we have the smallest cecum and shortest digestive tract of the apes. Both of these are more indicative of a carnivorous diet than a herbivorous one.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- danielbln 4y agoThere is no agreed upon definition of "cecum." The cecum is a pouch-like structure in the lower intestine where the large intestine begins. It is thought to aid in the digestion of plant material, but its exact function is not fully understood. Humans do have a relatively small cecum compared to other apes, but it is not clear if this is due to our diet or our evolutionary history. There are several possible explanations for why humans might have a relatively small cecum. One possibility is that our diet does not require a large cecum to aid in digestion. Another possibility is that the cecum has shrunk over the course of human evolution as we have adapted to a diet that is less reliant on plant material. Finally, it is also possible that the small size of the human cecum is simply a result of our anatomy and is not related to diet or evolution.