Evolutionary Pressure on Meat Eating

Synonyms

Carnivorous, Flesh eating, Predacious, Omophagous

Definition

Factors influencing abandonment of herbivorous diet and favoring the inclusion of meat in a more omnivorous eating pattern.

Introduction

As far as we can tell the first primate appeared 65 million years ago, just about at the time that the dinosaurs had gone extinct together with over half of the world’s other animal species. Purgatorius was a small animal who was an accomplished tree climber and looked much like a cross between a mouse and a squirrel. Purgatorius was also a vegan who took advantage of the fruits, flowers, and leaves which were now more abundant since the large herbivorous reptiles had disappeared from the planet. For millions of years, the descendants of Purgatorius, who were now evolving into monkeys and apes, diversified their diet somewhat, adding seeds and nuts to their diets along with occasional worms and insects (that may have been eaten more by accident than intent). Ultimately, however,...