Editing Vitamin C (section)

====Non-synthesizers====
Some mammals have lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C, including [[simian]]s and [[tarsier]]s, which together make up one of two major [[primate]] suborders, [[Haplorhini]]. This group includes humans. The other more primitive primates ([[Strepsirrhini]]) have the ability to make vitamin C. Synthesis does not occur in some species in the rodent family [[Caviidae]], which includes [[guinea pig]]s and [[capybara]]s, but does occur in other rodents, including [[rat]]s and [[mouse|mice]].<ref name="Miller-2014">{{cite book | vauthors = Miller RE, Fowler ME | title = Fowler's zoo and wild animal medicine, volume 8 | page = 389 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=llBcBAAAQBAJ&q=Caviidae+%22vitamin+C%22&pg=PA389 |access-date=2 June 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207032904/https://books.google.com/books?id=llBcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA389&lpg=PA389&dq=Caviidae+%22vitamin+C%22&source=bl&ots=ofF-Bu-mx-&sig=nPEZZ68O7v26lmGS9eAGfmaUZ1o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiIk471gInNAhUT0WMKHWlpAqAQ6AEISDAH#v=onepage&q=Caviidae%20%22vitamin%20C%22&f=false |archive-date=December 7, 2016 | isbn = 978-1-4557-7399-2 |date=2014 | publisher = Elsevier Health Sciences }}</ref>

Synthesis does not occur in most bat species,<ref name="Jenness-1980">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0305-0491(80)90131-5 |title=Variation of l-gulonolactone oxidase activity in placental mammals |year=1980 |vauthors=Jenness R, Birney E, Ayaz K |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=195–204 }}</ref> but there are at least two species, frugivorous bat ''[[Rousettus leschenaultii]]'' and insectivorous bat ''[[Hipposideros armiger]]'', that retain (or regained) their ability of vitamin C production.<ref name="pmid21037206">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cui J, Pan YH, Zhang Y, Jones G, Zhang S | title = Progressive pseudogenization: vitamin C synthesis and its loss in bats | journal = Molecular Biology and Evolution | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 1025–31 | date = February 2011 | pmid = 21037206 | doi = 10.1093/molbev/msq286 | doi-access = free | title-link = doi }}</ref><ref name="pmid22069493">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cui J, Yuan X, Wang L, Jones G, Zhang S | title = Recent loss of vitamin C biosynthesis ability in bats | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 6 | issue = 11 | pages = e27114 | date = Nov 2011 | pmid = 22069493 | pmc = 3206078 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0027114 | doi-access = free | title-link = doi | bibcode = 2011PLoSO...627114C }}</ref> A number of species of passerine birds also do not synthesize, but not all of them, and those that do not are not clearly related; it has been proposed that the ability was lost separately a number of times in birds.<ref name="Martinez del Rio_1997">{{cite journal |title=Can passerines synthesize vitamin C? | vauthors = Martinez del Rio C |journal= The Auk |date=July 1997 |volume=114 |issue=3 |pages=513–6 |jstor=4089257 |doi=10.2307/4089257 | doi-access = free | title-link = doi }}</ref> In particular, the ability to synthesize vitamin C is presumed to have been lost and then later re-acquired in at least two cases.<ref name="pmid22294879">{{cite journal | vauthors = Drouin G, Godin JR, Pagé B | title = The genetics of vitamin C loss in vertebrates | journal = Current Genomics | volume = 12 | issue = 5 | pages = 371–8 | date = August 2011 | pmid = 22294879 | pmc = 3145266 | doi = 10.2174/138920211796429736 }}</ref> The ability to synthesize vitamin{{nbsp}}C has also been lost in about 96% of [[Extant taxon|extant]] fish<ref name=Berra>{{cite book | vauthors = Berra TM |title=Freshwater fish distribution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K-1Ygw6XwFQC&pg=PA55 |year=2008 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |isbn=978-0-226-04443-9|page=55}}</ref> (the [[teleosts]]).<ref name="pmid22294879" />

On a milligram consumed per kilogram of body weight basis, simian non-synthesizer species consume the vitamin in amounts 10 to 20 times higher than what is recommended by governments for humans.<ref name="pmid10378206">{{cite journal | vauthors = Milton K | title = Nutritional characteristics of wild primate foods: do the diets of our closest living relatives have lessons for us? | journal = Nutrition | volume = 15 | issue = 6 | pages = 488–98 | date = June 1999 | pmid = 10378206 | doi = 10.1016/S0899-9007(99)00078-7 | url = http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/EvolutionPaleolithic/primaten.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170810090049/http://www.direct-ms.org/pdf/EvolutionPaleolithic/primaten.pdf | df = mdy-all | url-status = live | archive-date = 10 August 2017 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.564.1533}}</ref> This discrepancy constituted some of the basis of the controversy on human recommended dietary allowances being set too low.<ref name=pmid5275366 /> However, simian consumption does not indicate simian requirements. Merck's veterinary manual states that daily intake of vitamin C at 3–6&nbsp;mg/kg prevents scurvy in non-human primates.<ref name="Parrott-2022">{{cite web |url=https://www.msdvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/nonhuman-primates/nutritional-diseases-of-nonhuman-primates |title=Nutritional diseases of nonhuman primates | vauthors = Parrott T |date=October 2022 |website=Merck Veterinary Manual |access-date=24 December 2023 |archive-date=December 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231224173242/https://www.msdvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/nonhuman-primates/nutritional-diseases-of-nonhuman-primates |url-status=live }}</ref> By way of comparison, across several countries, the recommended dietary intake for adult humans is in the range of 1–2&nbsp;mg/kg.