I have an animal question. Are humans and other primates "more advanced" than other mammals in areas besides intelligence? Like, for example, the cardiovascular system. And I thought I read something a while back about humans (or maybe it was primates in general) having a better immune system than other mammals.

I don't know the answer to this one, not directly. I do know that the San people of Africa can track an antelope to death, i.e. the antelope will drop from exhaustion long before the hunter does, but that's got more to do with them being bipedal. And I would expect humans to have a better immune system because we live in large colonies and domesticate animals, though while this would be a genetic advantage it's indirectly caused by the brains. Incidentally, humans live something like twice as long as most other mammals when measured in heartbeats. But I would attribute this to sanitation and health care rather than a genetic advantage; it wasn't the case if you go back a few hundred years.

In conclusion, primates are unusually disadvantaged when being bitten by the Sydney funnelweb spider, both through being susceptible to their venom, and by having fingernails which said spider can bite through. What's up with that?

We're playing Buffista Jeopardy in Natter. Come waste time with us.

billytea, I meant to tell you earlier--you're not Aspergers--you're an actuary.

Considering DH, I'm going to go out on a limb and say there may be some overlapping ASD traits in actuaries.

Maybe.

billytea, I meant to tell you earlier--you're not Aspergers--you're an actuary.

Hee.

How do you spot an extraverted actuary?
When he talks, he looks at the other person's shoes.

Considering DH, I'm going to go out on a limb and say there may be some overlapping ASD traits in actuaries.

Jon's pretty social.

Jon's pretty social.

So are ants and bees.

So are ants and bees.

Jon does not make honey with his ass. He will however sneak into your house when it's raining.

Jon does not make honey with his ass.

No, but he has been known to shake his money-maker.

No, but he has been known to shake his money-maker.

I have also seen him do the dance to direct us to the nectar laden flowers.

Jon's pretty social.

Well, DH is awesome at reading people and social cues. He's just not social or maybe he's just not that into other people. And he's a tad persnickity about things like punctuality and he's freaky-ass ritualistic about some things. Could be he's just an OCD actuary but then I think we might be heading into redundancy. Again.