2007-01-13 22:06:51 · 13 answers · asked by responses_to_that_letter_i_wrote 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Why wouldn't they like bananas? Bananas are lovely!
Jokes apart, they don't only like bananas but all natural food they can find in their natural environment as they are omnivor (eat anything!).
That of bananas and monkeys is a bit of a myth, like rodents who are supposed to like cheese... I had 5 hamsters and none of them was mad about cheese. They all preferred nuts and seeds.
However, the best proof is to feed a chimp a banana and see what happens. Do you have one at hand? If not, I could provide a few students from my lab....!
2007-01-14 05:11:02 · answer #1 · answered by Jesus is my Savior 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A better question is why do monkeys like bananas (one person said chimps are carnivorous but they're not they're omnivores and even when they do get meat they like to eat it with some plants like we do) - after all bananas are shaped just right for a monkey's hand, they're pre-wrapped, they taste good... For some medieval naturalists this was proof of 'design'.
The real answer which I'm sorry to say nobody seems to have even attempted is co-evolution - just as we have turned wolves in to dobermans and chihuahuas with artificial selection so monkeys have done the same with their favourite fruit. How? Simply by eating it - fruit is the tree's way of replicating genes - the monkey eats a banana, wanders off to another part of the forest and passes whats left of the banana, throws the banana skin away... So any seeds are basically desposited on the ground with a collection of manure without the tree having to do anything. With the natural variation in trees some bananas will be more palatable than others, and as those fruit are more popular with animals - not just monkeys, those trees which produce nicer fruit will have more chance that its seeds will be spread by creatures eating them, over many generations monkeys select those trees with the best tasting fruit, quite unconsciously so that evolution favours the best fruit.
2007-01-14 09:25:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
they are natural food ! ( Chimps eat pretty much any fruit I'm not aware of a banana preference )
2007-01-14 06:10:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
have you ever seen a monkey/ape without one. seriously its all down to evolution and the way that other mammals can detect goodness in food. they eat a banana and feel the benefits of it then they know it is good and will eat more as they come.
2007-01-14 18:25:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Who dosn't like bananas?
2007-01-14 07:41:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
thats a question you should ask yourself chump sorry chimp
2007-01-14 06:14:45 · answer #6 · answered by Snot Me 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Because Mcdonalds have not yet got into jungles?
2007-01-14 06:15:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
Ask private, he share the same brain, problaly looks the same too
2007-01-14 06:57:55 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
They don't. Chimps are naturally carnivorous.
2007-01-14 06:11:17 · answer #9 · answered by Barry G 4 · 0⤊ 5⤋
do you like bananas, I sure do.
2007-01-14 06:11:41 · answer #10 · answered by srgofcb 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋