Aquatic Apes
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
*Work in progress*
Aquatic Apes
The "aquatic ape hypothesis" expresses the idea that the human species passed through an aquatic stage of evolution after they split from the last common ancestor shared with chimpanzees and gorillas, some nine million years ago. It was first proposed by Max Westenhofer in 1942, when it was largely ignored. Then, in 1960, Alister Hardy had the same idea and it met with little more enthusiasm. The most passionate advocate of the hypothesis has been Elaine Morgan who wrote the book "The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" which was published in 1997. She made a fairly convincing case for the idea and, although there are still many critics, the hypothesis has been taken very much more seriously as a result of her persuasive arguments.
How did humans evolve
Theories of human evolution seek to explain why humans are so different from other ape species: why they are bipedal, hairless, fat, sweaty, talkative and so on. The accepted theory had been that humans split from the last common ancestor at a time of climate change, when cooler, drier conditions were causing the forests to shrink. At that time, it was thought, they took to the expanding savannah, leaving the remaining patches of forest to the ancestors of the gorillas and chimpanzees. Supporters of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis point out that the Savannah Theory does not explain why humans became bipedal, hairless, fat, sweaty, good swimmers and talkers. If, on the other hand, human ancestors had passed through an aquatic stage of evolution, all those human oddities could be explained.
An aquatic ape
Aquatic Apes
The "aquatic ape hypothesis" expresses the idea that the human species passed through an aquatic stage of evolution after they split from the last common ancestor shared with chimpanzees and gorillas, some nine million years ago. It was first proposed by Max Westenhofer in 1942, when it was largely ignored. Then, in 1960, Alister Hardy had the same idea and it met with little more enthusiasm. The most passionate advocate of the hypothesis has been Elaine Morgan who wrote the book "The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis" which was published in 1997. She made a fairly convincing case for the idea and, although there are still many critics, the hypothesis has been taken very much more seriously as a result of her persuasive arguments.
How did humans evolve
Theories of human evolution seek to explain why humans are so different from other ape species: why they are bipedal, hairless, fat, sweaty, talkative and so on. The accepted theory had been that humans split from the last common ancestor at a time of climate change, when cooler, drier conditions were causing the forests to shrink. At that time, it was thought, they took to the expanding savannah, leaving the remaining patches of forest to the ancestors of the gorillas and chimpanzees. Supporters of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis point out that the Savannah Theory does not explain why humans became bipedal, hairless, fat, sweaty, good swimmers and talkers. If, on the other hand, human ancestors had passed through an aquatic stage of evolution, all those human oddities could be explained.
An aquatic ape
