Abstract
The aquatic ape hypothesis for human evolution can account for all the traits that distinguish humans from chimpanzees. This scientific paradigm has been considered impossible. It would require that human ancestors maintained a semiaquatic lifestyle for millions of years, whereas hominin fossils indicate relatively dry terrestrial environments. Here I propose a marine aquatic evolution that is speculative, but compatible with all the fossil and genetic evidence. In this hypothesis, hominins evolved from chimpanzee-like apes that became stranded on proto-Bioko — new volcanic islands with no terrestrial foods available. The apes were forced to eat shellfish and seaweed. From wading in water on two legs to obtain food, their bodies evolved to become bipedal. Naked skin, blubber, and protruding noses were also aquatic adaptations. Brain-size increase resulted from marine fatty acid DHA. Some of these hominins escaped to mainland Africa and their bipedal descendants are recorded at the famous fossil sites. The volcanic islands grew and evolved into Bioko, and the hominins that remained there evolved into Homo sapiens. They gave up their marine diet and semiaquatic habitat after food became available on the evolving island. Then, during one of the low sea-level stands in the Pleistocene epoch, humans walked to the mainland on the emergent Bioko land bridge. Unlike earlier aquatic ape ideas, the Bioko scenario can be tested by DNA. If the human genome includes a retrovirus that is otherwise only found in endemic animals on Bioko, it would show that our ancestors came from there. Unfortunately, Bioko and west-central Africa are not interesting to traditional paleoanthropologists, because they do not contain fossils.
Highlights
Genetic evidence shows that the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees lived about 6 million years ago (Lewin and Foley 2004)
A divergence resulted in two evolutionary branches: panins, that includes chimpanzees and bonobos, and hominins, that includes humans and extinct fossil species
An unorthodox idea: evolution in the sea Perhaps human features evolved during a period of marine habitat—an idea referred to as the aquatic ape hypothesis
Summary
Some scientists have debated the aquatic ape hypothesis (Roede et al 1991), and some have modified it to include possible freshwater environments (Vaneechoutte et al 2011). He introduced the term umbrella hypothesis to describe a “simple idea that overspreads and appears to resolve many scientific questions” (Langdon 1997). He argued that the aquatic hypothesis was unnecessary, because non-aquatic explanations are available for each of the human features. The aquatic ape hypothesis would require several periods of aquatic habitats, for which there is no fossil evidence. In his recent textbook on human evolution, Langdon (2016) used the aquatic ape hypothesis as an example of an appealing, yet deceptive, paradigm
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
