Physiological/Biological Anatomy of a (fruitarian) Human

Some evidence supporting our basic herbivorous natures:

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Anatomical Chart Comparison of Human and Carnivore/Omnivor/Herbivore/Frugivore

	Carnivore	Herbivore	Omnivore	Human
Facial Muscles	Reduced to allow wide mouth gape.	Well developed	Reduced	Well developed
Jaw Type	Angle not expanded - Vertically mobile for biting or tearing.	Expanded angle - Laterally mobile to allow chewing of food.	Angle not expanded - Vertically mobile for biting or tearing.	Expanded angle - Laterally mobile to allow chewing of food.
Jaw Joint Location	On same plane as molar teeth	Above the plane of the molars	On same plane as molar teeth	Above the plane of the molars
Jaw Motion	Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion	No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back	Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion	No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back
Major Jaw Muscles	Temporalis	Masseter and pterygoids	Temporalis	Masseter and pterygoids
Mouth Opening vs. Head Size	Large	Small	Large	Small
Teeth: Incisors	Short and pointed	Broad, flattened and spade shaped	Short and pointed	Broad, flattened and spade shaped
Teeth: Canines	Long, sharp and curved	Dull and short or long (for defense), or none	Long, sharp and curved	Short and blunted
Teeth: Molars	Sharp, jagged and blade shaped	Flattened with cusps vs complex surface	Sharp blades and/or flattened	Flattened with nodular cusps
Chewing	None; swallows food whole	Extensive chewing necessary	Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing	Extensive chewing necessary
Saliva	No digestive enzymes - Acidic saliva for the digestion of animal protein; the enzyme ptyaline lowly developed salivary glands.	Carbohydrate digesting enzymes - Alkaline salive pour a quick breakdown of food developed Salivary glands for pre-digestion.	No digestive enzymes - Acidic saliva for the digestion of animal protein; the enzyme ptyaline lowly developed salivary glands.	Carbohydrate digesting enzymes - Alkaline salive for a quick breakdown of food developed Salivary glands for pre-digestion.
Stomach Type	Simple	Simple or multiple chambers	Simple	Simple
Stomach Acidity	Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach	pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach	Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach	pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach
Stomach Capacity	60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract	Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract	60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract	21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract
Length of Small Intestine	3 to 6 times body length	10 to more than 12 times body length	4 to 6 times body length	10 to 11 times body length
Colon	Simple, short and smooth	Long, complex; may be sacculated	Simple, short and smooth	Long, sacculated
Liver	Can detoxify vitamin A	Cannot detoxify vitamin A	Can detoxify vitamin A	Cannot detoxify vitamin A
Kidney	Extremely concentrated urine	Moderately concentrated urine	Extremely concentrated urine	Moderately concentrated urine
Nails	Sharp claws	Flattened nails or blunt hooves	Sharp claws	Flattened nails
Thermo -stasis	Hyper -ventilation	Perspiration	Hyper -ventilation	Perspiration
Vitamin C	Can produce it without vitamin C rich food	Needed from the daily food	Can produce it without vitamin C rich food	Needed from the daily food (fruits).
Urine	Acid	Alkaline	Acid	Alkaline
Skin	No pores. No transcutaneous sweating.	millions of pores. Glands capable of sweating.	No pores. No transcutaneous sweating.	millions of pores. Glands capable of sweating

Adapted from The Comparative Anatomy of Eating by Milton R. Mills, M.D.

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Although not exactly evidence of our fundamental fruitarian-ness, nevertheless still relevant and interesting.. I'd love to see an additional column labeled fruitarians..

hugs,
mango.

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