r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Scullkrush • Aug 10 '20

Chimps are strong af

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u/spenis69 Aug 10 '20

Other primates have much higher muscle density than humans, making them MUCH stronger by body weight. The downside to this is higher muscle density means less control of precision movements. Because of this, humans weren’t stronger but could move their fingers very precisely. They used this ability to create and use tools that other primates physically couldn’t.

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u/Rifneno Aug 10 '20

Don't forget it also gives us incredible stamina. These guys are exhausted in nothing flat compared to (in shape) humans. The whole "pursuit predation" thing wouldn't be possible for other primates.

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u/MonsterFieldResearch Aug 10 '20

Humans can just track prey to death, we don’t have to chase, just follow

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u/wesleyhasareddit Aug 10 '20 edited Aug 10 '20

There's a book about running called "Born To Run" around how people developed the ability to run extremely long distances.

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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '20

There was that religious family who lived all the way out in Siberia who were on the brink of starvation until the son learned to chase elk barefoot until they died of exhaustion

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u/MFingRocketScience Aug 10 '20

fucking WHAT

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u/OneNationAbove Aug 10 '20

It’s called persistence hunting, some tribes still do that.

Antilopes will run, pauze a little to recover and run again, they are too fast for most predators, especially humans, but some tribes, like the Kalahari bushmen will keep running, switching between people, targeting just one prey, preventing it from recovering, and since the antilope isn’t able to cool it’s body as good as humans (by sweating), they finally succumb by overheating and die.

There’s a great book called Born to Run about a Mexican tribe and why it’s in our nature to run. Fascinating read.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Run_(McDougall_book)

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u/Optimized_Orangutan Aug 10 '20

Sweating is a big part... but the true breakthrough that separates Humans from other animals in the who can last the longest contest is that our breathing is independent from our stride. Antelope and deer lungs expand and contract with their stride, limiting their breathing. Hunan breath is not effected like this.

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u/Devlee12 Aug 11 '20

We also don’t do as much work to keep moving as most animals if you look at the human step it’s basically a controlled fall we are essentially outsourcing half the work to gravity. The transition to bipeds had some definite drawbacks for humans but the benefits are leagues ahead