Carnivorous teeth?

Question

Some questions on here recently have suggested that humans are carnivores because we have incisor teeth. While cleaning mine this morning I noticed that my incisors are just a millimeter or so longer than my other teeth, and would hardly be useful for a meat based diet. Consider that we no longer have the same appearance as our distant ancestors, then consider that animals like dogs, baboons, chimps etc which do eat meat and still have large incisors, wouldn't it be wise to suggest that evolution dictates that we now don't need meat in our diet?

That's a curious answer Cheese A. Apparantly someone once kept a semi-headless chicken for a while back in the 50's I believe it was. Fascinating, but gross all the same.
Eating meat for the taste isn't the same as eating it because *we're supposed to because we have carnivorous teeth*.

Can I just add that this question is in no way saying *stop eating meat, become vegetarian*. I am vegetarian but have no qualms about people eating meat. My argument questions the idea that we HAVE to eat meat because of the teeth we have. An example though, a vegetarian can go into their garden, pick or dig up some fruit and veg and eat it straight away. If you had pigs, chickens etc for food could you kill them with your teeth, strip the feathers/skin with them and then eat the meat raw? That's what being carnivorous really means, surely?

Here's a silly edit, maybe people with large incisors should eat meat and those like me with short ones should be vegtarian (or vegan)?

I beg to differ, chimps do eat meat. They hunt, catch, kill and eat smaller monkeys. It's a document fact.

Answer 1

Chimps don't eat meat. "Chimpanzees are omnivores (eating plants, fruit, and meat). They eat mostly fruit. In long dry seasons when fruit is scarce, tree seeds, flowers, and bark become an important part of their diet."

But maybe, if their teeth have longer incisors, they use these for attack/defense?

I've also heard the theory that humans don't need hair anymore on their head but we still have it, not counting balding at later ages.

Answer 2

First, the incisors are the buck teeth in the front, they're a lot like the ones rabbits have to gnaw carrots. They're purpose is not for eating meat.

One either side of the incisors are the canines, these are the teeth that are used for tearing meat. Note that they're not very sharp and would not do you much good in biting into a live lion.

The canines certainly don't require humans to eat meat, but they allow a human to eat it during times when no plants can be found. They're really quite small compared to carnivorous animals.

Since vegetarians (especially vegans) do in fact survive and on average live longer than omnivores, it is obvious that we don't need meat in our diet.

Answer 3

Humans have the teeth of a omnivore based on herbivore teeth.This is in contrast to other omnivores like raccoons and brown bears which have omnivore teeth but based on carnivore teeth.So while they have big canines for killing we have small ones which would be useless for hunting.

Our teeth can chew meat-especially cooked meat-and our stomachs can process it but nowhere near as efficently as true carnivores can.Human intestines often have a backlog of partly processed meat long after plants eaten at the same time have gone.

A true carnivore has a short intestine-for example dogs and cats-and powerful stomach acid to dissolve meat before it goes off and causes problems.Our intestines are more like those of a herbivore-very long-this is essential for processing plants.

The incisor tooth thing puzzles me though.The mark of a carnivorous mammal is large sharp canines and carnassial teeth INSTEAD of mollars at the back.All mammals with teeth whatever their diet have incisors-carnivores use theirs to bite meat yes but herbivores use them to bite off leaves and pieces of fruit.

The bottom line for me in the debate over whether we are meant to eat meat is simple.If you tried to live on meat alone then you'd die no matter how many different kinds of meat or how much you ate.You can-and vegans like me do-however live perfectly well on a varied plant based diet.

Therefore we are meant to be plant eaters.The ability to eat meat is just a bonus our bodies have-probably originally designed for times when food was scarce and our ancestors had to eat whatever was available.

Answer 4

Our teeth actually indicate that we are omnivore not carnivore!So the whole basis for the argument is flawed! There is a big difference between the two! If we were meant to be Herbivores or suddenly all stopped eating meat, it would take millenia for the teeth to change! I don't know any humans that have the same teeth as a cow or horse! I actually have prominent canine teeth in comparison to my incisors and molars! Does that mean I'm not as evolved as you? I don't think so!
There is no archaeological evidence that supports your view that we have changed over time other than in general size! The earliest skeletons found have the same teeth we do!
If you don't want to be a meat-eater that's fine but don't use an argument against it without being sure your facts are correct!
Just seen the addition! Yes I could kill a small animal with my hands (animals use claws not just their teeth)as easily as you could pull up your potatoes and if cooking wasn't an option I could eat it raw as I could the potato!!! I wouldn't like the taste or texture of either but I'd eat them raw if I had to!

Answer 5

You are correct. Moreover, not only our teeth but our entire digestive tract is better suited to process fruits and veggies.

There is a lot of undigested meat in the large intestines of meat eaters. the body does not efficiently process it.

The back teeth show this even more...our molars are flat to crush and grind similar to the vegetarian animals.

Also note how meat eating animals do not chew their food...they gulp it down ...only using the teeth to hold and cut.

Answer 6

well not really. I mean, yeah indeed the size and length of our incisors have shrunk but it doesn't mean that we have to remove meat from our diet. The reason why they shrunk is because we now eat cooked meat (which is easier to chew by the way) rather than the raw ones that our ancestors did. And even if our incisors didn't shrunk, removing meat from our daily diet would be dangerous. Not all vegetarians are healthy and I wouldn't say that being one is highly recommended for a better living. Meat provides us with protein and fats after all and it is very essential to us. So my answer is no. Evolution does not dictate that we have no further use for meat in our diet, it simply says that we no longer need incisors as large as baboons' based on what we eat now.

Answer 7

yes i agree with you, but if you like meat you can eat it it is personal chose i love vegtables but i like a bit of meat an the is my chose as it is yours if you don't want to .

Answer 8

The teeth can't be canivourous but the owner of the teeth can if they choose to be.

Answer 9

You still have incisors no matter how bad your teeth are. If man were to move to a strictly vegetable based diet it would take several millennia for our bodies to evolve [including our teeth] to such a being.

Answer 10

brilliant! My thoughts exactly. I always say if humans had to hunt, catch, kill and consume their prey the way lions do, we couldn't without the use of tools and cooking. Most people would not eat meat, if they had to catch, kill, and butcher it themselves