We share 98% of our DNA with orangutans and lest you think it is our opposable thumb that separates us from apes, think again by taking a look at this thrilling photo of an orangutan hand (left) connecting with a human hand (right) that was published as the photo of the month in Editor & Publisher.
that's quite a line there i guess we should reconsider our animal instincts
There does seem to be a strong evolutionary line in play there, clem, don't you think?
evidence for the eyes and i wonder how much of that odd 2% has to do with cigar smoking
I would guess probably most of it, clem!
see i told doctor smoking was in my dna
Rise above your animal instinct, clem!
Give up the smokes!
i'm trying but growing up it was monkey see monkey do
Rise above your de-evolution, clem!
If you had run the picture without an explanation, I would have thought it was two humans reaching out to each other.
Chris!
Yeah, I know! I thought the same thing. I thought it was an old woman's hand at first or a mummified hand from antiquity that had been unearthed. To find out it was a living hand from an orangutan shocked me! It is the opposable thumb that still chills me.
Congrats on your nomination for the BoB Awards! Good Luck!
Hello Dave!
I think the split came from eating vegetables to eating flesh. That was the change in habit that created exponential evolutionary growth, but that's my take on it. Here's a more scholarly theory:
http://biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BIO48/39.Human.Evolution.HTML
When I was growing up we were taught the main thing that made us uniquely human was the opposable thumb. Imagine my surprise to discover we are not alone!
Hi Jim Turner --
Thanks for the good news!
My uninformed opinion, Dave, is that the rush of animal protein led to severe changes in behavior and DNA that allowed the expansion of the mind and desire for upward progress that brought us into Homes Sapiensism.
There comes a time, however, where you cannot grow beyond a certain point and to continue to engorge yourself with animal proteins and fats becomes an ironic and natural form of population correction where people with high cholesterol and other ailments from animal proteins pay the price by living shorter lives and a less robust existence.
I think the reason the diet was able to change was a modification of teeth. Being able to grab and tear flesh was a requirement to move up the food chain buffet.
Here's an interesting comparison chart between us and them:
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/natural.html
Here's what my Guruji, Dr. McDougall, has to say about meat eating and humans:
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/mcdougall/030700pumeatinthehumandiet.htm
I couldn't find anything interesting about primates existing on a mainly flesh-eating diet.
I too thought that the other hand belonged to.. perhaps an elderly person or perhaps makeup on the hand of a zombie (which would be human)... Neat!
suki!
Yah! That first image still freaks me out when this post loads. It is familiar but strange in a primordial way.
Looks like the orangutan could do with a good wash!!
I think that's the natural color of the skin, Amber.
I like this entry. But this comment is to track down strange behavior here.
Although I commented on a different thread in the blog, I just received e-mail notification of updates in this thread. Is this a bug in K2 or WordPress?
I'll comment on this thread, and see if I start to get updates of comments on another thread too, to better detect what's going on.
I had assumed that "Notify me of followup comments via e-mail" only meant to the one thread, not every entry in the blog.
Hi David --
You should only be getting emails only from a thread you ask for a subscription.
That's a great post, like the pictures a lot.
Thanks for checking in, Jeff! I love your blog design and idea! Fun!
And there are some that still argue about the validity of evolution,,,,incredible
Well said, Lareth, and welcome to the blog!