Question

Adaptations for digesting foods high in fiber, protein, and structural carbohydrates include _____.

a- gut fermentation

b- opposable thumbs

c- teeth designed for shredding

d- gut fermentation and teeth designed for shredding

e- all of the adaptations listed here

Answer 1

There were many evolutionary traits that caused the evolution of the Primates. There was a time in the past when there was large amounts of food available in the form of dense canopy distributed all over the land surface. These dense forests could provide ample amounts of food to large groups of organisms, only the organisms had to learn how to use this canopy and the energy possessed within it. So, the organisms developed different characteristics for the utilization of the plant protein.
Plant protein was not easy to get. Plants also developed character to save themselves from the predators. They saved their leaves and fruits at higher positions from the surface. These fruits and leaves were hard to gather. Secondly, they had formed a strong cell wall composed of cellulose. This made the plant materials hard to digest.

For using the plant materials as a source of food, organisms had to device mechanisms to collect food in the first place. This was done with the help of operable hands and opposing thumbs. As these characters were developed and helped the organisms possessing it, they were naturally selected and carried forward to the next generation. This process caused the selective accumulation of the helpful traits in the evolutionary descendants. Next was the problem of digestion of the harsh food. This problem was solved by evolving helpful bacterias in the gut for fermenting the food and generating easily absorbable chemicals for the body. This was further helped by the development of strong teeths, which helped in disintegrating the food at the beginning.
So, the correct answer in this case will be “d- gut fermentation and teeth designed for shredding”.