BreakfastBeerz t1_j2bvydt wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:36 AM

Reply to comment by ronaldmosess in Somewhere down the evolution, we lost the skill of passing messages through peeing in bushes and corners. by [deleted]

Where did you get this nonsense? Animals peeing on things does not allow them to communicate. It allows them to mark territory. When they pee on a bush, they are leaving the scent of their urine (which is pungent) to let any other animals know that they are there, this is their area, go away. They are not saying, "Up Clarence, meet me at 7".

We haven't lost that ability, we just don't use it because we have other ways to mark territory. But if you were walking in the woods and came along a seemingly abandoned cabin and walked in and smelled urine, you would immediately know that that cabin was already being lived in.

smelliepoo t1_j2byvtr wrote on December 31, 2022 at 2:58 AM

Totally agree and there is more information passed over in animal urine. E g. Diet, health, possibly age, certainly hormones (which can be altered when an animal is fearful, horny, on heat, etc) but definitely not 'see you at spoons, 8pm' And maybe don't go into cabins that smell of pee whether they are lived in or not!

Ovze t1_j2csktl wrote on December 31, 2022 at 7:43 AM

Probably that’s what we lost through evolution, not the message itself so the ability to decode it as we created language so yeah… actually a much interesting hypothesis, wonder if there’s some scientific investigation about it. I know some dogs can smell cancer, so who knows what info regular pee can carrie through smell.

smelliepoo t1_j2d2644 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:51 AM

I don't think it is lost, just unused. If we started to sniff pee more often then we may get it back! Anyone want to volunteer?

tampora701 t1_j2cghmm wrote on December 31, 2022 at 5:28 AM

"Animals peeing on things does not allow them to communicate."

"When they pee on a bush, they are leaving the scent [...] to let any other animals know that they are there..."

You just described the act of communication: one thing instilling another thing with shared information. Language is only 1 of the ways to communicate.