https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/ Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:09:51 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.6 https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4226 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 08:09:51 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4226 Son: There are quite a few USO’s and many are poisonous. The same can be said of all plant parts. Many fruits and leaves are poisonous to mammals, yet primates eat fruit and leaves. You just have to eat the ones that are not poisonous.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4225 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:42:13 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4225 J-Dog — all apes and monkeys already have opposable thumbs. You might argue that it affected the exact morphology of the hand, in terms of proportional thumb length and precision grip, but it wasn’t the origin of the trait. The opposable thumb per se is more likely an adaptation to climbing and arboreal travel, as far as I am aware.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4224 Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:49:12 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4224 Aren’t many tuberous roots poisonous without proper processing? Cassava, for instance, can’t be eaten raw unless you want cyanide poisoning (but like the potato, it is a New World plant). Potatoes contain solanine or glycoalkaloids. The “bitter yam” of West Africa can paralyze your respiratory system. The Apocynaceae tubers are poisonous too. And so on. Many tubers must be cooked before they’re safe to eat, so an ape would need fire before relying heavily on tubers.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4223 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:32:38 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4223 The “potato” part is sort of a joke. Potatoes are just a funny vegetable. Were talking Under Ground Storage Organs (USO’s) of plants generally.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4222 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:00:41 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4222 Potato, as a South-American plant, probably didn’t influence evolution in Africa…

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4221 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:41:40 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4221 And don’t forget the old mantra: “A root in the hand, is worth 2 in the ground”. Okay, so I made that up, but still, root foraging could be one of the prime movers in developing opposable thumbs, which could have encouraged bipedalism = Homo.

]]> https://gregladen.com/blog/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4220 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:07:43 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/02/19/the-potato-and-human-evolution/#comment-4220 Fascinating. I love it when a readily understandable theory seems to have such a profound explanatory effect. Even Dawkins would say that’s a powerful idea. As someone who thinks that some kind of temporary geographic isolation was needed for most “speciation”, I think it is great to see a compelling suggestion that genuinely seems to trigger this required separation.

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