Not Lazy, Just Evolved…
– – Orangutans aren’t exactly balls of fire but rather simian slackers; they can sleep for twelve hours a day, and then nap for several hours more! In fact, orangutans use less energy, pound-for-pound, than any animal except for the tree sloth. This is not necessarily a bad thing…
It turns out that orangutans are not lazy, but simply energy-efficient. In the wild, orangutans live mainly off fruit, which can be hard to come by in their forest habitat for several months of the year. Those who can survive on the least food for the longest therefore have the best chance of surviving and reproducing. Although a large male orangutan can weigh in at over 250 pounds, a new study in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that such an animal consumes less than 2,000 calories a day, which is 20% less than a typical human male.
This can be considered an evolutionary adaptation to deal with their habitat, with sleep being a low-energy state…
Tags: animal energy efficiency, orangutan
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FOXSYLVANIA 
August 12, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Speaking of calories: FACT OR FAKED investigated fresh (yet, blurry) video footage of another feline cryptid in the Dartmoor region of England. One that has evidently been killing some of the local sheep!
Now, a local tracker–serving the FOF team as guide–explained to them that usually its feral dogs or foxes that attack and kill stray sheep. The latter part confused me, greatly. I know that foxes can bring down rabbits their own size. But, a full-grown sheep??!
To my (admittedly armchair) knowledge, there’s only one vulpine species big enough to do that. The so-called maned “wolf” of South America!
Now, I’ll be honest. I believe that the “phantom panthers” of Dartmoor are quite probably the feral mixed-blood offspring of big cats illegally released from bankrupt private menageries. But, a feral melanistic maned “wolf” in the UK? Uh-uh! I can only suspend my disbelief so far (and I can _usually_ suspend it a considerable distance).
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August 13, 2010 at 1:46 am
I doubt we foxes could bring down a full-grown sheep. I have been known, when famished, to tackle a pizza delivery man, however…
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August 13, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Did some double-checking. Normal-sized red foxes occasionally go after stray _lambs._
It’s just that the carcasses found and examined on the episode were (formerly) adult sheep.
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August 13, 2010 at 10:35 pm
This is how we acquired that old nursery rhyme, “Foxy had a little lamb.” Please note that I still greatly prefer Chinese food…
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August 16, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Like Maxwell chops in soy sauce?
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