The only possible exceptions I can think of are fish(I imagine gills and mouth are not connected but don’t really know). I am excluding bacteria and viruses and I believe they don’t really breath(correct me if I’m wrong).

  • otp
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    5 hours ago

    Most mammals (if not most animals) breathe through their noses.

    People complaining about humans being designed poorly don’t know that this design “flaw” is what allows us to be able to speak.

    Yes, this increases our risk of dying by choking. But despite that, being able to speak has been so evolutionarily advantageous that our increased risk of dying is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

    • I’d have put the vocal chords in the nasal passage, allowing humans to still talk while eliminating the choking problem.

      The laryngeal nerve is a much more stupid design, simply because there’s no practical reason for it to be the way it is.

      Also: if we didn’t have the ability to breath through our mouths, swimming as a sport would be harder, since we don’t have the ability to close our nose-holes.

      • OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca
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        4 hours ago

        I’d have put the vocal chords in the nasal passage, allowing humans to still talk while eliminating the choking problem.

        Exactly. A very simple correction to the design would allow for both.

        The laryngeal nerve is a great example of how flawed our bodies are. A few more are:

        • Our back is terrible for walking upright. It evolved as a horizontal support and doesn’t work well when compressed.
        • Our hips are too narrow for the size skull we give birth to. Many women die from this without healthcare.
        • Our eyes suck. A lot of people need corrective lenses from a young age. This gets even worse as we age.
        • Speaking of eyes, our retinas are backwards. The nerves that send the signals back to our brains run in front the receptors that pick up the light. We have a blind spot because those nerves need to pass through to reach the brain.
      • angrystego@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Quite a lot of people can close their nose-holes by curling up their upper lip. I’m not one of them, unfortunately.