A common activity among primates is mutual grooming. Through visiting zoos, or watching conservation videos, we are all familiar with this activity. One individual seeks out another, then sits patiently while the ‘groomer’ carefully sorts through the coat of the ‘groomee’. These roles may then be reversed. We modern humans usually interpret the activity as the searching for and removal of external parasites and their eggs, perhaps also seeds and other debris, and dismiss it as primitive and unnecessary (- unless our children acquire lice at school!).

However, mutual grooming is more than reciprocal coat cleaning and is important in creating and maintaining social bonds between the members of a primate group. But, of course, Homo sapiens has evolved more efficient means of forging social contacts – through speech, writing, the arts and so on. We have left all that animal stuff behind. Or have we?

Observe your fellow humans on a bus or train, in a waiting room or restaurant, even walking on a city street. Watch how they use their ‘smart’ phones. Suddenly, our long-established primate urge to investigate an object with the fingers, move and part hairs searching for minutiae, has been rediscovered. The stance, finger movements and the intensity of concentration are identical to those employed by our primate relatives in mutual grooming. And what is the primary purpose of this E-grooming? To ensure we are still in the tribe, in the know, still respected and listened to. Those versatile, sensitive, manipulable fingers which we have inherited from the early primates still have valuable work to do.

Most mammals and many other species of animals vocalise. Making sounds to communicate is common among primates and they can identify individual calls. Our brains have evolved over long periods to distinguish particular pitches and recognise patterns of pitches, or melodies. So, not only do we have the means to make sounds, we can adjust the sounds we make and know when other people are ‘out of tune’. This ability is especially important in conversation with others, when slight changes in pitch and emphasis can have profound meanings. If we have the ability to speak coherently, we also have the ability to sing.

However, the joy of being able to make music with the voice, the most versatile of all instruments, has been denied to many of us. There are at least two reasons. Firstly, the ability to sing has to be developed through childhood, and those who were encouraged to sing in their early years, can perform simple songs in tune when asked by teachers. Whereas those without the opportunity to develop their voices are deemed ‘tone-deaf’ and told to keep quiet when others are singing. This put-down often results in a lifetime of not singing.

The second reason only a few sing, and even those who have developed their voices keep quiet, is because of our obsession with excellence. As, for example, with sport, acting, art and writing, we have come to accept that only the best will do. What is the point of singing if one cannot emulate the divas of the opera. How did they get there? Practice, practice, practice. The celebrity culture prevents too many from the personal satisfaction of singing for ourselves. It’s time to come out of the shower and let rip! Start by singing along to CDs, then join a community choir. Singing brings joy.

 

It is interesting and revealing to compare attitudes to the functions of our ‘other end’ with the same activities in other animals. Firstly, let’s think about our attitude to defaecation. All the species of animals we are in close contact with: dogs, cats, cows, sheep, horses, chickens and many others, shed their wastes without inhibition, and we are used to handling and disposing of them efficiently without any restraint. In fact, some of these animals such as cattle, horses and poultry, produce wastes that we regard as valuable in the growing of crops for human consumption. But human defaecation, and urination, is rarely mentioned, and the parts of our anatomy which deal with our waste are regarded with disgust. Our attitude to the passage of faeces and urine is one of embarrassment, and small children, even adults, reflect it in their jokes about ‘poo’ and ‘wee’.

And why are we so reluctant to talk about human reproduction as if sexuality and intercourse are unique to us? We breed domestic animals and enthusiastically create opportunities for reproduction to occur without a blush and discuss these activities in polite society without censure. Yet discussion about our genital anatomy and mating activities is heavily restricted in public and the Media, and tackled only with great hesitation in schools. This prurient attitude to human sexuality is reinforced by the fact that most of us live in cities unaware of what happens between farm animals, and by the remnants of religious strictures. The historical result has been ignorance and insufficient scientific attention to the function of the colon and the control of genital diseases.

Evolution took us out of the jungle and onto the plains. From an environment where hands and feet were capable of grasping branches, and climbing trees, to one where feet provided a stable support for rapid level motion, and hands were capable of delicate and controlled movements as well as gripping tools and throwing objects.

Our feet, with toes previously adapted for grasping, now function to maintain balance and provide thrust when walking and running. A memory of the past remains, however, in that the four smaller toes on each foot can be moved together independently of the big toe. Our feet are made for walking, but get less and less opportunity. Shoes restrict natural movement, and cars prevent it altogether. It’s time to kick off those foot pods and walk barefoot like your ancestors.

What a wonderful thing is a hand! Capable of tiny movements and subtle pressures, delicate touch and precise actions, yet able to push and grip with force. The tips of the fingers are acutely sensitive – try touching the fingers on each hand together, with your eyes closed,  and see how little pressure is needed to register the contact. We can oppose the thumb to any of the other fingers, and move each finger independently (with practice!). The hand is the ultimate tool of the musician and surgeon, artist and lover. Why risk its integrity in harsh labour and violence.

In a previous blog, I described the evolution of our main characteristics, an upright stance and a big clever brain. And how these two vital aspects of the human animal are neglected in modern living. Concurring with the well-used theme of: If you don’t use it, you lose it, we need to pay more attention to the health of our heads and legs. Who needs flabby brains and wobbly legs?

Brains thrive on challenges, on learning, on new ways of thinking. The evidence shows that brains are ‘plastic’ – they can change according to need, and that we can learn at any age. Challenge means more than tackling crossword puzzles or games; these use well-trodden neural pathways. We have to challenge our ways of thinking and our ways of interacting with other people; taking different routes and avoiding long-established habits and routines. We need to regularly tackle new skills, other languages, different hobbies. The human brain evolved to think, reason, research and create; not passively soak up the output of the media.

And what about those legs? What are you doing to keep them strong and supple? They are like the trunk of a tree, essential support to the branches and leaves, strong enough to maintain firm contact with the ground, and to resist the strongest gales. Can you walk long distances, easily climb steps and hills, stand without support and resist being knocked over in a crowd? If your legs are weak, you are vulnerable. Furthermore, your leg muscles are largely responsible for pumping blood back up to the heart (because of our upright stance!). Poor circulation down there means more strain on your heart (and less blood going to the brain). It’s time to get off your chair, away from your desk or table and walk or cycle. Become fully what you have evolved to be.

The evolution of modern humans enabled us to fill a particular niche. Our ancestors gradually moved away from a wooded or jungle environment, which still suits the other primates, and out onto the open plains. In doing so, they lost the ability to climb trees, but gained an upright stance that allowed fast walking and running, and larger, more complex brains which led to the production of tools and weapons, and communication skills necessary for collaborative hunting and group security. And, in time, to the development of agriculture, establishment of towns, and creation of civilizations. However, modern human animals are little changed from our immediate predecessors who first evolved an upright stance and a big clever brain.

But these two essential characteristics of the human animal – our verticality and fast gait which are dependent on powerful leg and back muscles, and a big, complex brain, are now the two most neglected human features. Modern living, which involves long periods of sitting and lying, and little opportunity to develop and use the muscles that keep us upright, and the ever-increasing use of machines that think for us, is failing to maintain those features that originally separated us from our primate antecedents. Most of us would be physically and mentally unable to survive away from our civilised environments. Are we still evolving? Perhaps future human animals will more resemble blobs than chimpanzees. In time, we may even evolve different shapes of hands – the left with palm uppermost, capable of holding a smart phone (and a bend in the neck allowing constant attention), the right with fingers half-curled prepared to clutch the next take-away coffee!

This follows my previous comments on the skin and its secretions. As ‘civilised’ animals we are obsessed with cleanliness. We shower or bath ourselves daily and even more frequently, using detergents and powerful chemicals to remove dirt, skin debris and secretions; we wash our hands after the slightest contamination; we disinfect kitchen surfaces, floors and our clothes obsessively to kill ‘germs’, and so on. And despite all these efforts, we do not manage to avoid skin diseases, respiratory infections, allergies and asthma, food poisoning and so on. An ever-increasing problem is the transmission of bacteria and parasites which have become resistant to treatment. Yet we continue to believe we can protect ourselves from all the organisms which surround us. This belief is encouraged by the manufacturers of the products we rely on for our ‘safety’.

However, despite all our precautions, we are in frequent contact with a wide range of bacteria, fungi and parasites. They are in the air we breath, on our food, in our clothing, bedding, and on all the surfaces we touch. And then, of course, there are all the friendly bacteria on our skins (even after washing), in our mouths, ears and other orifices and, as pointed out previously, in our intestines, especially the colon. Animals don’t take daily showers, disinfect themselves, wash their food, clean their teeth with toothpaste, yet they remain largely free of many of the diseases we develop. There is a lot of evidence that our natural fellow travellers, which have evolved with us over many thousands of years, can prevent us being attacked by serious pathogens. It is time we gave them more respect.

Evolution results in a wide range of striking features in animals – vibrant colours, massive horns, flamboyant tails, rapid movement, loud calls and so on. These characteristics usually have an important and continuing function in nutrition, finding a mate, propagating the species, or avoiding predators.

What are our prominent features? Most notable are an upright stance, excellent vision and a large complex brain. But do we use them to the full? We have the ability to walk fast and cover long distances, but spend more time sitting or driving a car. We can see long distances and understand the intricate details of our environment, but spend much of the day squinting at computer and phone screens. It is possible we have the most complex and clever brains in the Universe, but how often do we use them to think logically or creatively?

An overused, but still pertinent, saying is that: ‘If you don’t use it, you lose it’. As animals, we are neglecting the important features which make us human, and tending to become sedentary, visually impaired, unthinking zombies.

Here is a topic, that, as a vet, has long intrigued me. Let me first set the scene. Female animals which produce a single, or two, large offspring, tend to give birth while standing, whereas those that put out several or many small offspring at one time do so while lying down. Examples of the first group include cattle, sheep and horses; of the second: dogs, cats and rabbits. In essence, giving birth to a single large young animal is initiated by uterine contractions and inter-abdominal pressure but, especially in the later stages of parturition, is aided by gravity. The birth of large litters of small offspring – puppies and kittens, is achieved without the aid of gravity.

Which brings me to the human animal. The fact that most women give birth to a single child; and the relative size of a human child at birth, especially of its head, with respect to the dimensions of the birth canal, suggest we fit in the first category. Yet it is expected that women will give birth while lying horizontal, perhaps with legs raised. Why do we make no use of gravity in birth? Human births seem to depend on the exhausting physical efforts of the mother while on her back and hence, commonly and inevitably, the assistance of midwives and doctors. The recent fashion of giving birth in warm water still does not take full advantage of gravity. May I suggest modern birth practices (ie. positions) are more designed to facilitate the activities of the attendants rather than the mother?

And while on the topic, expulsion of the afterbirth normally follows soon after emergence of the young animal, and the umbilicus remains intact until severed by the mother. This ensures that any blood remaining in the placenta is mostly transferred to the new-born by the final contractions of the uterus. From my observations of human births, there seems to be a rush to sever the umbilicus immediately after birth, which must surely deny the baby its full complement of blood. Comments please!

The Western world is abuzz with discussion about whether or not to legalise same-sex marriage and how to protect those with sexual identities different from the ‘norm’, from discrimination and physical danger. On one side of the argument are people who claim that there are only two types of human: female and male, and that any departure from this reality is an aberration which should not be recognised or encouraged; on the other side are the large minority of LGBTI people who demand to be acknowledged and protected.

Human animals may have brains which have evolved to a stage of consciousness which allows for self-recognition of sexual and gender diversity, and permits debate about the rights and wrongs of labelling these differences, but we are still animals. Biology – which includes the study of sex in animals, has long recognised and described the wide spectrum of difference in sexuality and sexual behaviour in many species of animals. There is no logic in pretending that the human animal is any different. It may suit the Law and Religions to divide people simplistically and conveniently into male and female. This is just wishful thinking, but no more rational or useful than classifying tall plants as either trees or bushes.

We acknowledge the wide diversity of life on earth and celebrate the many differences in structure and behaviour of all the other animal species, why not ours?