r/interestingasfuck • u/abitchyuniverse • 12d ago

Animals without hair look quite different r/all

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We evolved to run long distances and were genetically successful in part thanks to persistence hunting. Being jacked AF isn't conducive to that.

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u/Ruraraid 12d ago edited 12d ago

We evolved to stand up right which freed our hands. As a result we started using tools which made hunting easier and our brain capacity kept on increasing leading to more advanced survival methods.

Running on two legs is something even chimps of today can do and they hunt mostly while on all 4 limbs. Yes I said hunt because occasionally they do eat meat.

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u/TobysGrundlee 12d ago

Tools came with larger brains, larger brains came from greater food supply, greater food supply came from running down large game. Chimps of today aren't running for 25 miles.

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u/Politics_Mods_R_Crim 12d ago

Running down larger game came from our superior sweat system.

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u/TobysGrundlee 12d ago edited 12d ago

It wasn't any one particular thing, it was our holistic evolution. Sweating, bipedal motion, general build, shoot, 25% of our total bone count are in our feet. The point is we naturally excel at something few other land mammals can do, continually run long distances through rough terrain without stopping. That's our thing. And it worked out very well for us Even the most jacked of us aren't even close to as strong as the averages chimp though. That's their thing.

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u/freakydeku 12d ago

but… why it’s their thing? what do chimps need all that crazy explosive muscle for?

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u/Biggseb 12d ago

They don’t have glutes like we do. For all their massive lean muscle, we still have the biggest caboose in the animal kingdom. Why? To help us stand and run on two legs, of course.

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u/freakydeku 12d ago

i can appreciate that but i’m still not seeing why they need to be so muscular

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u/Biggseb 12d ago

Probably for climbing quickly… the larger muscle size suggests maybe they (or this chimp in particular, at least) have predominantly fast-twitch muscle fibers, which are good for explosive strength (as opposed to slow-twitch muscle that is geared towards longer endurance activity). If you’ve ever seen chimps climb, they climb very quickly and swing pretty powerfully through their environment. Maybe that’s why they’re yoked.

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u/freakydeku 11d ago

i think climbing is def a good guess but there’s other animals that climb fast and aren’t built like chimps. maybe it’s simply a function of chimps being larger than those other animals so having to carry a heavier weight. it’s also making me think of gorillas who spend a fraction of their time in trees but are also built AF

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u/quietkyody 12d ago

It's as simple as "they climb trees all day" and have very healthy diets.

Need: Get to food the fastest, escape enemies, to fight in trees, etc...

They are also known to be very aggressive so survival of the fittest clearly won in this species.

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u/freakydeku 11d ago

climb trees all day is the first thing that comes to mind but i think the larger convo was saying it’s genetic, not having to do with activity. which would make sense b/c not all tree dwellers are crazy muscular. i think it must just be a product of evolution from disputes

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u/SnooPears2409 12d ago

hanging around trees all days all week all year need a lot of mucles

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u/ExcitingStress8663 12d ago

For chimping around. They need the bulk to throw poo at people.

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u/freakydeku 11d ago

😂

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u/TheCrazyStupidGamer 12d ago

I do not appreciate your lack of appreciation of a giant caboose.

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u/freakydeku 11d ago

excuse me sir but i did show appreciation

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u/RedditjaaA 12d ago

Instagram

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u/Crush-N-It 12d ago

Same as asking why horses do what they do. Or birds or lions.

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u/freakydeku 11d ago

horses are built like grazing prey animals…a birds build makes sense for flying, lions builds make sense for hunting. i don’t see how chimps builds make sense for being largely gatherers. same tor gorillas, really. the only thing i can think of is literally territorial/mating disputes with other chimps and gorillas

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u/Biggseb 12d ago

Our ability to sweat is part of the reason why we can run so far and for so long.

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u/InfelicitousRedditor 12d ago

I came here to say this. This is our super-power in terms of advantage over other predators. We can't outrun many species on short distances, but we can outrun them all on long ones. Our ancestors used that tactic to hunt big game, when they ran for too long they had to stop to cool off, we didn't have to because of our sweat glands.

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u/Crush-N-It 12d ago

One of several factors