(Redirected from Aquatic ape)
The 'aquatic ape hypothesis' (AAH), sometimes referred to as the 'aquatic ape theory' (AAT), proposes that the
ancestors of humans went through one or more periods of time living in more aquatic settings than modern non-human apes and that this history accounts for many of the characteristics of
species in the ''
Homo''
genus that are not seen in other
primates, such as
chimpanzees or
gorillas. The AAH has been poorly received in mainstream
paleoanthropology (Lowenstein & Zihlman 1980, Langdon 1997) but there are at least 20 published documents in the literature which promote various forms of it (e.g. Hardy 1960, Morgan 1982, 1994, 1997, Ellis 1986, 1993, 1995, Crawford et al 2000, Verhaegen et al 2002), several that offer statements of support for it (e.g. Tobias 1998, 2002, Cameron & Groves 2004:68) or against it (e.g. MacLarnon & Hewitt 1999, Jablonski 2006), and a few that give a balanced account of arguments both for and against (e.g., the most important, Roede et al 1991.)
The AAH states that human ancestors evolved in warm and wet environments and gathered much of their food from shallow sea-, lake- or riverside environments through beach-combing, wading and diving for foods such as coconuts, bird's eggs, turtles, shell- and crayfish, part of reeds, papyrus and other aquatic plants. There are interpretations which propose fresh-water habitats (Ellis 1993), variations in the timescale (
Verhaegen et al. 2002) and the proposed degree of selection arising from moving through water. The most popular formulation involves a semi-aquatic episode coinciding with the
Pliocene-
Pleistocene littoral diaspora of the ''Homo'' genus along the East-African
Rift Valley lakes and the African and Indian Ocean coasts.
A fairly broad definition of the AAH is given by Kuliukas:
[1]
''The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (AAH): The hypothesis that water has acted as an agent of selection in the evolution of humans more than it has in the evolution of our ape cousins. And that, as a result, many of the major physical differences between humans and the other apes may be explained, to a large extent, as adaptations to moving (wading, swimming and/or diving) better through various aquatic media and from greater feeding on resources that might be procured from such habitats.''
History
Prior to 546 B.C., the
Milesian philosopher
Anaximander proposed that mankind had sprung from an aquatic species of animal. He thought that the extended infancy of humans could not have originally permitted survival as a land-based species. This idea was based on elemental forces of mutation as opposed to evolution.
The history of the modern origin of the AAT is poorly known. For instance, some researchers believe that the first "aquatic hypothesis" was originally suggested in 1972 by Elaine Morgan, most are sure that this idea was proposed 1960 by Alister Hardy (who Morgan explicitly cites as the originator of this idea), and few insiders believe that the first author was the German pathologist
Max Westenhöfer (1871-1957), who published his "Aquatile Hypothese"
1942 in his main work ''The Road to Man'' (''Der Eigenweg des Menschen''). However, Westenhöfer's idea was already proposed as early as 1923, as Nicole Bender-Oser showed in an in depth medical thesis about Westenhöfer's life and work (Bender-Oser 2004).
The origin of the idea of a more aquatic phase in hominid evolution in the English laguage can be traced to 5th March 1960 when the
marine biologist Sir Alister Hardy publicly announced it in a presentation to a sub-aqua club in Brighton and was quickly followed up by two articles published in the scientific magazine "New Scientist" (see ref. below.) Hardy had had the idea privately since about
1930, independently of Westenhöfer. The early television playwright and later
feminist writer
Elaine Morgan developed and promoted it, publishing in 1972 her first book on the subject, ''The Descent of Woman'', and later other books, including ''The Aquatic Ape'' (
1982), ''The Scars of Evolution'' (
1990), ''The Descent of the Child'' (
1994), and ''The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis'' (
1997). Other proponents of this theory are Marc Verhaegen, Renato Bender and Nicole Bender-Oser. An important aspect of the reception of the AAT concerns the fact that Bender-Oser's pro AAT was acknowledged with a faculty prize by the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern in 2004. This is seen as an important positive reception of the AAT from the academic side.
Arguments for the aquatic ape hypothesis
The aquatic ape hypothesis puts forward several main arguments (some of the assertions in these arguments are in dispute).
Nakedness
Humans are the only
primate species in which, over most of the body,
hair is so fine and sparse as to reveal the skin under it into adulthood. Some aquatic mammals such as (
whales,
dolphins,
walrus,
dugongs, and
manatees) and some semi-aquatic mammals
hippopotamus also have sparse hair and visible skin into adulthood. Therefore, humans have sparse hair because they are aquatic.
Counter claims
Humans also developed sweat glands. These displaced hair follicles in the skin to allow cooling of the body during vigorous exercise, an adaptation which seems useless for water dwellers.
The
babirusa is a
littoral tropical medium-sized mammal which is about as naked as humans are. The suggestion that aquatic mammals or semiaquatic mammals lose their hair is based on a small group of aquatic mammals that did, and typically larger aquatic mammals. Many large mammals have shorter, fine hair, regardless of their aquatic involvement. Most aquatic and semiaquatic species of mammals retain their hair. Even in water, hair is a good insulator. Beavers, otters, fur seals, and polar bears have all retained their hair.
Many juvenile primates, such as chimps, have larger heads, less hair, and a greater ability to learn. This combined with similar skeletons has led many evolutionary biologists, including
Stephen Jay Gould, to conclude that the nakedness of humans is due to a
neoteny of our chimp/human ancestor.
A 2003 study holds that nakedness may have developed as a way to reduce parasite load once hominids could regulate heat more effectively with fire and clothing. This, combined with sexual selection, may explain the hairlessness as well as the pattern of hairlessness for each gender.
[2]
Some parasites live on clothing as well, though these would have developed after humans lost their hair. This is shown by evolutionary studies of the body louse
[3] as well as the typical purposes of clothing for warmth being needed after or concurrent with nakedness. Parasite load would still be reduced when the parasite-infested clothing was removed.
Bipedalism
Gorilla wading through swamp
There exist very few
bipedal mammals, and humans are the only ones which adopt a full-time, fully-upright posture with a vertical
vertebral column. Gorillas, chimpanzees and
bears are able to walk on two legs when they have a particular reason. This can be seen when chimps are feeding on grasses in a
bayou. They often stand on two legs and wade through the water with their upper bodies out of the water. They do this with relative ease, but always revert to
quadrupedalism as their basic means of locomotion. Some prosimians such as
indris skip sideways on two legs when on the ground, because their adaptations to leaping through trees make ground-based quadrupedalism difficult.
Kangaroos and hopping
rodent species use a bipedal form of locomotion with bent knees and bent hips in rest. Even
birds, with exceptions such as (semi-aquatic)
penguins which have vertical vertebral columns, walk bipedally but with a horizontal vertebral column. Creatures such as
squirrels and
meerkats often adopt an upright posture when stationary, but do not walk or run bipedally.
Aquatic ape theory proponents argue that as evolution works in small steps and in such a situation it is hard to see how bipedalism could have evolved on the
savannah.
Water, however, supports the body, and
proboscis monkeys as well as lowland gorillas have been observed wading bipedally in mangrove or swamp forests. Baboons have also been observed to cross shallow water bipedally.
[4]
It has been claimed that the one other animal known to have a pelvis adapted to bipedal walking was prehistoric ''
Oreopithecus bambolii'' (commonly known as the "swamp ape" owing to its flooded
habitat). Kuliukas in 2001 argues that the skeletal morphology of the early
hominan Australopithecus afarensis is consistent with adaptation for wading in water. Kawamura in 1962 observed a troop of Japanese macaques developing bipedalism in water through cleaning sweet potatoes therein.
Counter Claims
An orangutan on the ground, walking bipedally
Most apes are at least temporarily bipedal, using their upright state for locomotion, feeding and sentry behavior, all of which are useful for terrestrial life.
Brachiators such as
orangutans and
gibbons, typically move by swinging in trees, when they come down to the ground they typically walk in a bipedal fashion, they are not quadupedal. The reason for
brachiation is speed over bipedalism, not inability. There is no requirement to evolve this in water as bipedalism already exists in the primate family.
The common ancestor between humans and
chimpanzees was quite possibly much closer to bipedal than we previous thought and chimpanzees could have later adopted
knuckle-walking.[
[1]] As such, bipedalism would already be available to such an ancestor. There are a number of bipedal species and nothing suggest that "vertical vertebral columns" are indicative of a water evolution.
Body weight is not an issue for apes walking bipedally. They are not often observed torso deep in water.
No aquatic mammal is bipedal. Few
tetrapods evolve walking on two feet in an environment where swimming is preferred.
Some chimpanzees do walk in a bipedal fashion without much effort such as
Oliver the chimpanzee.
Breathing
Most land mammals have no conscious control over their breathing. The voluntary control humans have over their
respiratory system can be compared to that of (semi)aquatic mammals which inhale as much
air as they need for a dive, then return to the surface for air. Morgan argued that this voluntary breathing capacity was one of the
preadaptations to human voluntary speech.
Fat
Aquatic mammals retain fat (
blubber) throughout the year. Human infants are especially fat compared with apes. The human fatty layer (
panniculus adiposus) is also attached to the skin of the central body parts as is the case with most medium- or larger-sized (semi)aquatic mammals, rather than to the muscle as in almost all land mammals. Humans also lack the layer of cutaneous muscle (
panniculus carnosus) possessed by land mammals including non-human primates, which allows many land animals to twitch their skin, and which is not present in aquatic mammals.
Counter Claims
Despite claims by proponents human fat is structured in a very similar way to chimpanzees. The fat in humans is attached to muscle.
The quality of having many small and numerous fat cells under the skin is not unique to humans among land animals. Rather it is shared with many species including hedgehogs, monkeys and badgers. In addition, the distribution of these fat cells in humans does not correspond with the distribution of fat cells in whales, seals or other aquatic mammals. Fat in aquatic mammals had evolved for use in streamlining and fat in humans does not function in this way.
Fat distribution in humans corresponds with developing via sexual selection and as a luxury evolved from having a lack of predators. Deers isolated from predatory wolves have been shown to become fatter in the same way, as have monkeys kept on special diets.
Facial Structure
Human facial structure is quite different from other apes, with thick eyebrow hair and downturned nostrils. The shape of the human nose, with nostrils running perpendicular to the rest of the face, prevents water from entering the nose while upright. Thick eyebrows allow water to flow from the top of the head away from the eyes upon surfacing, allowing for faster adjustment to vision through air. Human facial hair forces water to flow away from and around the nose and mouth to enable faster inhalation upon surfacing.
Childbirth
Dramatic increase in
skull size is a prominent theme in human evolution, making childbirth difficult and dangerous.
Water birthing is believed to facilitate childbirth and to reduce risks to mother and infant.
Human infants are born covered in
vernix caseosa, a waterproof coating not found in any other land mammal. A radio programme on the AAH (
Scars of Evolution, Episode 2) aired on 2005 postulated that if vernix is due to Human's aquatic origins then other aquatic species may also show this phenomena. The programme searched for this evidence and found a report of
common seal also being born with a layer of vernix.
Newborns continue to draw oxygen through the
umbilical cord while underwater. Human infants naturally hold their breath and can "swim" from birth.
Breasts
Humans are the only mammal with perpetually swollen mammary glands. Human females have large fatty
breasts that float on the surface of water. This would have allowed a mother to feed an infant at varying depth while the baby was kept out of the water and thus allowed to breathe normally.
Counter Claims
The most common theory about human breasts are that they exist as
sexual selected characteristics. Rather than serving a use to breastfeeding women have larger breasts than other primates because men like larger breasts. Breasts also provide a sexual signal from the
anterior as the buttocks do for the posterior.
[5] Others have found that large breasts are by themselves not evolutionarily advantageous and rather exist as a byproduct of selection for fat.
[6]
Nutrition
Human brain tissue requires comparatively large amounts of
omega-3 fatty acids, which are uncommon in the land
food chain but prevalent in the marine food chain. Most animals which move to plains life tend to develop smaller brains, while aquatic animals tend to evolve larger ones, quite possibly because of access to omega-3. Omega-3 fatty acids also promote
HDL cholesterol and cardiovascular health in humans, while the
saturated fats in
pork,
beef and other land-based meats do the opposite. Yet for land-based carnivores the opposite is true and they have special digestive enzymes to neutralize the harmful effects of dietary cholesterol. It is noteworthy that many nutritionists find seafood to be the healthiest protein source for humans, whereas the meat of land-based mammals such as from beef or pork are the most harmful.
Tears and excessive sweating
Sweating and tears are prevalent in humans but not in other primates. They are considered further evidence to support the hypothesis, insofar as they are vectors for the removal of excess water and salts from the body as might result from the ingestion of saltwater (as in eating food from a salt marsh). Other alleged former marine animals, such as the
elephant, cry saline tears, and the mechanism by which humans produce sweat from eccrine glands could have developed as a means of shedding extra salt.
Counter Claims
Aquatic mammals dispose of extra salt through urine.
Humans cannot drink much
saltwater without
dehydration and death.
Elephants did not evolve from aquatic mammals.
Aquatic mammals do not sweat.
Reproductive traits
The most common human mating practice, ventro-ventral ("
missionary position" or "
dolphin-style"), is essentially front-to-front, exactly how aquatic mammals must mate. Few other land animals (
bonobo,
orangutan,
potto,
sloths, all arboreal) use such a position more or less frequently; instead, mating
coitus more ferarum is the norm, as with, for example, dogs. Marine animals, even non-mammals, also tend to develop a less accessible
vagina to keep out water, necessitating a longer
penis (possibly explaining why the human penis is much longer in relation to body size than any other primate penis), a trait long noted as specific to humans and bonobos (who live partially in flooded forest) among primates.
Counter Claims
It is true that the human penis is large relative to body size.
[7] However, this can more easily be attributed to adaptations in favor of bipedalism, such as the loss of the
os penis rather than an aquatic stage of man. Human females do not have an inaccessible
vagina.
Humans' tendency to mate ventro-ventral does not necessarily imply aquatic adaptation. It could just as well be explained as another byproduct of bipedalism, having an entirely different cause than the parallel development of ventro-ventral mating in marine mammals.
In addition, humans are able to mate in
a variety of positions, including coitus more ferarum, but dolphins are ''only'' able to mate ventro-ventral due to the location of their reproductive organs. Quadripedal animals mate coitus more ferarum because their limb function does not permit otherwise, again suggesting that this property of humans is merely a byproduct of bipedalism. Although it should be noted that bonobos are also known to frequently use 'missionary position', and to not be stringently limited to 'heat' seasons.
Swimming
Swimming among humans and apes is not innate, and must be learned. Infants are capable of the equivalent of underwater paddling and breath hold. Humans have slight webbing between the fingers.
Also, as exercise physiologists may note, of all exercise types, swimming far and away puts the least strain on human bones and joints. Whereas running, jumping, climbing and virtually all other forms of land-based physical activity put undue and often injurious strain on human joints, swimming is rarely, if ever, deleterious to the human skeleton.
Counter Claims
Many mammals are better native swimmers than humans. Humans have trouble keeping their heads above water and, without training, easily drown. Other mammals are situated horizontally rather than vertically and can easily swim to safety.
Despite underwater paddling, infants cannot keep their noses above the water's surface. For this reason, if left unattended in water they can and do drown.
Some apes such as Kloss's gibbon also has webbing between fingers.
Water-based exercise results in greater levels of body fat. [
[2]]
Kidney morphology
Amongst primates,
kidneys normally exhibiting
lobulated,
multipyramidal medullas is a unique attribute of the human species. Although kidneys naturally multipyramidal in their medullary morphology are rare in terrestrial mammals, kidneys with lobulated medullas do occur in elephants, bears, rhinoceroses, bison, cattle, pigs, camels and the okapi. However, kidneys characterized with multipyramidal medullas are common in aquatic mammals and are nearly universal in marine mammals.
To avoid the deleterious effects of saline water dehydration, marine mammals have adaptively thickened the medullas of their kidneys – which enhances their ability to concentrate excretory salts in the urine. However, the lobulation of the kidney’s medullary region in marine mammals appears to be an adaptation to expand the surface area between the medulla and the enveloping outer cortex in order to increase the volume of marine dietary induced hypertonic plasma that can be immediately processed for the excretion of excess salts and nitrogenous waste.
A phylogenetic review of freshwater aquatic mammals suggests that most, if not all, nonmarine aquatic mammals inherited the medullary pyramids of their kidneys from ancestors who originally inhabited, or frequented, marine environments. So this suggests that most, if not all, aquatic mammals exhibiting kidneys with lobulated medullas are either marine adapted – or are descended from marine antecedents. Additionally, a phylogenetic review of nonhuman terrestrial mammals possessing kidneys with multipyramidal medullas suggests that bears, elephants and possibly rhinoceroses, also, inherited their lobulated medullas from semiaquatic marine ancestors.
Counter Claims
Terrestrial mammals also have kidneys with lobulated medullas.
Humans cannot drink much
seawater and survive.
Spleen
The human
spleen, an organ that stores oxygen-rich blood, is relatively large in humans, serving as a kind of biological "
scuba tank". This is suggested after studying physiological changes in
freedivers; The contracted and compressed spleen adds extra oxygenated blood to the circulation.
[8] The German physiologist Max Westenhöfer already noticed the resemblance of the human spleen with aquatic mammals:
Quoting from ''Der Eigenweg des Menschen'' 1942, Berlin,:
"(...) The condition of the 'incomplete uniformation or consolidation' of the human spleen and kidneys has been surpassed only by one species of mammals, namely the Cetaceans, the whales (dolphins and porpoises), compared to the kidneys of cows, of the pinnipeds, of seaotters and bear, hippopotamus and rhinoceros, in other words of animals, which used to or still live in or near water. Of special significance is the observation, that all new-born anthropoid apes have fully consolidated kidneys, as do the majority of mammals, while their spleen may in rare cases show remains of grooving; the consolidation has not yet reached its full extent. Humans (...) stand, in this respect, on one of the lower rungs of the ladder of evolution, while the anthropoids, their so-called closest relatives, as well as the other mammals have by far surpassed them in this respect. Whales, dolphins, seals, sea otters and bears seem much closer relatives to humans when we compare their spleen and kidneys than do anthropoids, who have by the way also developed remarkably far ahead of humans considering the consolidation of the aveolas of the lungs. These remarkable coincidences between such different species must naturally be interpreted as convergences. The fact that these species have a common environment, water, allows the consideration that in an early stage of human mammalian development there existed a being with an aquatic way of life."
Sea of Afar
The
Afar Depression was flooded by the
Red Sea about 7 million years ago, meaning that the proto-humans (perhaps ''
Orrorin tugenensis'') would not have travelled to the sea, but that the sea came to them. Likewise, they would not have left the sea, but rather it simply dried up. This hypothesis corresponds well with the earliest human or proto-human finds such as
Lucy which were found in or around the Afar Depression.
[9]
Counter Claims
There is no evidence that this happened.
Lucy would have existed millions of years after the
Afar Depression dried up.
Criticisms of the aquatic ape hypothesis
Traits atypical of aquatic or semi-aquatic mammals
Many features humans possess are not common amongst aquatic or semi-aquatic mammals:
★ large ears
★ long limbs
★ large breasts
★ long hair
★ bipedalism
★ non-native swim ability
★ sweat glands
★
external testicles
★ inability to see under water effectively (although
Moken have better underwater vision than other people (Gislén et al. 2003))
Vagueness
Since the 1960s, the theory hasn't changed much nor increased its testable predictions; in most respects it has become less specific as objections have been proposed.
[10] The theory has become less specific as to time period ranging from many thousands of years ago to millions. The theory is purported to explain bipedalism more than 4 million years ago, hairlessness 1.2 million years ago
[11], or the increased fat within recorded history. The water source is either freshwater or seawater or some combination of the two, often depending on the objection or trait the theory is explaining. To deflect from these problems some proponents become more vague on the number of aquatic stages suggested. Rather than suggesting an aquatic stage of evolution, some proponents have been reduced to suggesting some general association with water (which is true of many, indeed most, mammals) or more association with water than that of chimpanzees or other apes.
[12]
This vagueness and the many different versions of the theory make the theory impossible to evaluate
scientifically. This, combined with, the lack of evidence makes suggestions concerning the validity of AAH seem like
special pleading.
Lack of Evidence
No direct fossil evidence for AAH has ever been found. The vagueness of the theory makes it difficult to determine anything which could be evidence, what time period this evidence should be found in, what environment the it should exist in, or where it should be found.
Arguments from ignorance
Rather than citing evolutionary or fossil evidence, proponents of aquatic ape hypothesis often rely on arguments about how certain human morphological characteristic are only or heavily restricted to aquatic mammals. This is, opponents claim, an
argument from ignorance; simply because another explanation is not forthcoming does not mean that there is no other explanation. Comparing human morphology to that of other mammals requires one to ignore all the known ways humans are different from other mammals: full time bipedalism, use and control of fire, use of more advanced technology, large brains. Anthropology is finding explanations for these characteristics and typically they heavily relate to other unique characteristic of humans. Theories which not only explain the characteristics but have evidence to support the idea that they are the actual cause.
False statements
A number of common claims made by proponents of aquatic ape hypothesis are false and repeatedly reasserted. Proponents often declare that
rhinos,
pigs,
elephants are aquatic, semi-aquatic, or evolved from aquatic or semi-aquatic animals. Proponents state that
human fat deposits are "skin bonded" or fundamentally different than those of apes.
Straw man
Proponents of AAH often compare their theory to the "alternative" theory of
Savanna Theory, giving a very narrow and weak view of the modern understanding of
human evolution. This sets up a
straw man to be knocked down and imply undue strength to AAH. Also, presenting Savanna Theory as the alternative gives the implication that
biome is an extremely important element of human evolution.
Attacks on proponents
Although it has very little to do with the theory itself, many skeptics of the aquatic ape hypothesis attack the proponents of the hypothesis, rather than address the hypothesis itself.
Ad hominem attacks have been repeatedly launched against supporters of the theory. Much has been made of the fact that
Alister Hardy pondered the role of
telepathy on evolution.
[13] Also subject to ridicule have been lesser claims made by some proponents in less scholarly works, such as a suggestion the mermaids are some kind of race memory of an aquatic stage.
[14] Others have gone so far as to parody the theory, such as with the
Pliocene Pussy Cat Theory, which suggests that early humans used cats to hunt for them.
AAT In Popular Culture
★ In the album ''
This Toilet Earth'' by
thrash metal band
GWAR the song The Insidious Soliloquy Of Skulhedface features the lyrics: "I am he who has been him back when man swam Pangean seas as aquatic apes."
★ In the River Jackson play ''Otherwise'', the aquatic ape theory is referred to as if it were an accepted scientific fact.
★ In
Michael Crichton's novel ''
Next'' the passage: "According to her reading, the loss of hair had occurred after human beings separated from chimps. The usual explanation was that human beings had become for a time swamp creatures, or water creatures. Because most mammals were hairy their coats of fur were necessary to help maintain their internal temperature. But water mammals, such as dolphins and whales had lost their hair in order to be streamlined. And people, too, had lost their hair." The aquatic ape theory is addressed as being the primary model for human evolution.
★ In Mark Devon's book ''The Origin of Emotions 1.0'', the aquatic ape theory is referred to as if having been accepted as scientific fact.
References
1. Kuliukas
2. http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/(303pi445sablno550rxrcbry)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,35,37;journal,95,305;linkingpublicationresults,1:102024,1
3. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/08/19/1061261154182.html?from=storyrhs
4. Baboon video
5. http://www.nyu.edu/fas/ihpk/CultureMatters/Mascia-Lees.htm
6. Lewontin, Roger C. and Stephen J. Gould. 1979. The Spandrels and San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptionist Programme. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B (205)581-598.
7. (per Marvin Harris)
8. DeeperBlue
9. [3]
10. (Ellis 1993, Verhaegen et al. 2002, Morgan 1982, Hardy 1960)
11. Rogers, Alan R., David Iltis, and Stephen Wooding 2004: Genetic variation at the MC1R locus and the time since loss of human body hair. Current Anthropology 45: 105-108.
12. Kuliukas, 2002
13. http://www.ehe.org/display/ehe-page.cfm?ID=19
14. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/maquaticape.html
Sources
★ Bender, Renato; Verhaegen, Marc & Oser, Nicole (1997): Der Erwerb menschlicher Bipedie aus der Sicht der Aquatic Ape Theory. Anthropologischer Anzeiger 55 (1), 1-14.
★ Bender, Renato and Oser, Nicole (1997): Gottesanbeterinnen, Maulwürfe und Menschen. Unipress 95, 20-26.
★ Bender, Renato (1999): Die evolutionsbiologische Grundlage des menschlichen Schwimmens, Tauchens und Watens: Konvergenzforschung in den Terrestrisierungshypothesen und in der Aquatic Ape Theory. Diploma Thesis; Institut of Sport and Sport Science, University of Bern.
★ Bender-Oser, Nicole: Die Aquatile Hypothese zum Ursprung des Menschen: Max Westenhöfer's Theorie und ihre Bedeutung für die Anthropologie (2004). - Medical Dissertation, Institut of History of Medicine, University of Bern.
★ Cameron, D. W., Groves, C. P. "Bones, Stones and Molecules ('Out of Africa' and Human Origins)". Elsevier (Sydney) (2004).
★ Campbell N. A. and Reece, J. B. (2006): Biologie. 6. ed. Pearson Studium, München. (this German edition is based on the 6. American edition, but certainly considering some parts of the 8. American edition. The 7. American edition does not contain the pro AAT statement, as far as we know [Renato Bender and Nicole Bender-Oser]).
★ Crawford, M. A; Bloom, M. Broadhurst, C. L.; Schmidt, W. F., Cunnane, S. C; Galli, C., Ghebremeskel, K., Linseisen, F., Lloyd-Smith, J., Parkington, J. E. "Evidence for the unique function of docosahexanoic acid (DHA) during the evolution of the modern hominid brain." Lipids 34, S39-S47, (2000).
★ Ellis, D. V. "Proboscis monkey and aquatic ape." Sarawak Mus J 36, 251-262, (1986).
★ Ellis, D. V. "Wetlands or Aquatic Ape? Availability of food resources." Nutrition and Health, 9, 205-217, (1993).
★ Ellis, D. V. "Human Ancestors in Wetland Ecosystems." ReVision 18(2), 8-12, (1995).
★ Gislén, A. et al., 2003. Superior underwater vision in a human population of sea Gypsies. Current Biology 13: 833-836. http://www.current-biology.com/content/article/abstract?uid=PIIS0960982203002902 See also Pilcher, Helen R., 2003. How to see shells on the sea floor, http://www.nature.com/nsu/030512/030512-14.html
★ Hardy, A.C. "Was man more aquatic in the past?" ''
New Scientist'', 7,642-645 (1960).
★ Kuliukas, A., "Wading for Food: The Driving Force of the Evolution of Bipedalism." ''Nutrition and Health'', 16(4), 267-290, (2002).
html
★ Langdon, J.H., "Umbrella hypotheses and parsimony in human evolution: a critique of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis." ''Journal of Human Evolution'' 33, 479-494 (1997),
★ Lowenstein, J. M., Zihlman, A. L. "The Wading Ape - A Watered-Down Version of Human Evolution". Oceans 17, 3-6, (1980)
★ MacLarnon, A. M., Hewitt, G. P. "The Evolution of Human Speech: The Role of Enhanced Breathing Control." American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 109, 341-363, (1999).
★ Montgomery, D. "Seashore Man and African Eve", Lulu, 2007, ISBN 978-84753-811-6. http://www.sondela.co.uk/Aqua/aquaindex.htm]
★
The Aquatic Ape, , Elaine, Morgan, Stein & Day Pub, 1982, ISBN 0-285-62509-8
★
The Scars of Evolution, , Elaine, Morgan, Souvenir Press, 1990, ISBN 0-285-62996-4
★
The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis, , Elaine, Morgan, Souvenir Press, 1997, ISBN 0-285-63377-5
★ Pagel M., Bodmer, W., "A naked ape would have fewer parasites" ''Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences'', 270 (2003) S117 - S119, DOI 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0041, URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2003.0041
★ Seedhouse, E., The Spleen in the Spotlight, January 2003, Deeper blue
[4].
★ Tobias, P. V. "Water and Human Evolution." Out There. 3, 38-44, (1998).
★ Tobias, P. V. "Some aspects of the multifaceted dependence of early humanity on water." Nutrition and Health, 16, 13-17, (2002).
★ Verhaegen, M., Puech, P-F., Munro, S., "Aquarboreal Ancestors?" ''Trends in Ecology and Evolution'', 17, 212-217 (2002).
★ Williams, MF, "Morphological evidence of marine adaptations in human kidneys" ''Medical Hypotheses'' Volume 66, Issue 2 , (2006) Pages 247-257
See also
★
Aquatic adaptation
★
Human evolution
★
Savanna theory
★
Sea of Afar
External links
★
''Aquatic Ape Theory: Sink or Swim?''
★
''Aquatic Ape Theory: The Most Plausible Explanation of Human Origins'' - from Riverapes.com.
★
''Did humans descend from 'aquatic apes'?'' - a Staff Report on the aquatic ape hypothesis by The Straight Dope.
★
''Aquatic ape theory discussion group'' – specifically devoted to discussing aquatic ape theory, including a lot of files and links.
★
''Water and human evolution'' – proceedings from the Gent Conference 1999.
★
''Morphological evidence of marine adaptations in human kidneys'' A 2006 Medical Hypotheses research article by Marcel F. Williams
★
''The Aquatic Ape Theory'' - an argument for the hypothesis by Elaine Morgan.
★
''Aquatic Ape Info'' - by Dewi Morgan (grandson of Elaine Morgan).
★
The role of floods in ape evolution - a BBC article.
★
Seashore Man and African Eve A search for the origins and evolution of humankind in Africa - Denis Montgomery
★
Pliocene pussy cat theory
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
