Why anthropologists dont accept the aquatic ape theory. This is the aquatic ape theory and although treated with derision by some academics over the past 50 years, it is still backed by a small, but committed group of scientists. The aquatic ape hypothesis aah, also referred to as aquatic ape theory aat is the idea that ancestors of modern humans were more aquatic than those of other great apes the hypothesis was initially proposed by the marine biologist alister hardy in 1960, who argued that a branch of apes was forced by competition over terrestrial habitats to hunt for food such as shellfish on the sea shore. The aquatic ape hypothesis elaine morgan why do humans differ from other primates. So back to 1960, when he gave a talk at the british sub aqua club a scuba diving club. Also in the theory that humans did come from monkeys, scientists have tried to find the missing link in are so called evolution. To make his talk interesting to his sub aqua audience he decided to tell them about the aquatic ape theory.
In 1967, the hypothesis was mentioned in the naked ape, a popular book by the zoologist. The aquatic ape hypothesis, sometimes referred to as the aquatic ape theory or aat, is a questionable theory from paleoanthropology that enjoyed popularity in the 80s and early 90s. He served as a subeditor for the journal of laryngology and otology for nearly a. Why anthropologists dont accept the aquatic ape theory 25 jan 2005 this is now an old post from 2005 see updates below one of the most common arguments about human evolution on the internet is whether hominids ever went through an aquatic. This book explores a controversial idea that human evolution was intimately. She would write about the theory in her book the descent of women, which would go on to become an international bestseller and really increase the prominence of the aquatic ape hypothesis, and she would go on to pen other books on the matter such as the aquatic ape 1982, the scars of evolution 1990, the descent of the child 1994 and the. The aquatic ape theory states that our ancestors once spent a significant. Then in 1960 a professor called sir alistair hardy was invited to talk to a sub aqua club.
Presumably, early apes were plant and fruit eaters in tropical forests. Sage reference the complete guide for your research journey. Sage video bringing teaching, learning and research to life. The bizarre hypothesis of the aquatic ape mysterious. The aquatic ape theory states that our ancestors once spent a significant part of their life in water. The most widely held consensus is the savanna theory, which holds that we developed bipedal locomotion to deal with the grassland, or savanna, that was spreading about that time. Since morgans last book in 2008, the theory has been treading water, so to speak. African origins theory is fairly well accepted among anthropologists and archaeologists, as well as most related scientific disciplines, but there are, as with natural selection, some competing ideas. The aquatic ape theory on the other hand picks out one of all these environments and says. Sage business cases real world cases at your fingertips. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. A brief critique of morgans 1997 book,the aquatic ape hypothesis elaine morgans 1997 aquatic ape book her sixth is supposedly her best researched according to her so ive read it and here jotted down some notes of things that i could immediately see were errors, problems, or logical fallacies. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. One quick search on amazon got me directed to this dealer and within about 3 days i had it in my hands.
Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. On 5 march i was asked to address a conference of the british sub. Rhys evans author this book presents the latest evidence on the controversial waterside ape theory of human evolution, what used to be known as the aquatic ape theory. The aquatic ape theory graham hancock official website. The aquatic ape theory proposes that such an aquatic phase, during. The aquatic ape theory gives us fresh perspective and new possibilities to some of the biggest mysteries about our origins. From what i can piece together from the incoherent evolutionist literature, the aquatic ape story goes like this. I am in debted to the many people who helped to make this book possible primarily to. In his book darwins dangerous idea, daniel dennett observes. So the aquatic ape theory is actually pretty interesting. David attenboroughs aquatic ape series for radio 4 based on. The aquatic ape theory is something i first heard about from one of my favourite blogs, mermaids are real, which is actually a published book as well. The waterside ape presents the latest evidence on the controversial waterside ape theory of human evolution, what used to be known as the aquatic ape theory.
The theory was first discussed in the 1940s but it has many difficulties. One theory, or hypothesis as the case may be, that tenaciously attacks the african origin theory is the aquatic ape theory. He is a much more learned and erudite writer than i, and you will get a much greater depth of. It was picked up by elaine morgan in her book, the naked darwinist. A large number of scientists from different fields have contributed to the impressive book. The aquatic ape theory states that approximately 67 million years ago, our ape ancestors were trapped in a semi aquatic environment. Why anthropologists dont accept the aquatic ape theory john. The aquatic ape theory there is a popular fringe theory about human evolution that claims we went through an aquatic phase.
The savannah theory postulates that the evolution from ape to hominid proceeded. So she continued to write and publish four more books on the theory, called the aquatic ape, the descent of the child, the aquatic ape hypothesis and the scars of evolution. Sage books the ultimate social sciences digital library. Human evolution in the sea at bioko research news from. An early proponent of the theory, elaine morgan, was a documentary writer and composed a series of books on the topic that helped to raise more awareness for it beginning in 1972. Presumably, early apes were plant and fruit eaters in tropical. Big brains, no fur, sinuses are these clues to our. Before about seven or eight million years ago all of the great apes lived in a great forest that covered much of the equatorial and sub equatorial earth. This book is an update to her 1960s book the aquatic ape theory which is now sorely outofdate, so if youre going to read it, read the 1990s version called aquatic ape hypothesis. Popularized in the 1970s and 1980s by writer elaine morgan, the theory suggests. The aquatic ape theory, now largely dismissed, tries to explain the origins of many of humankinds unique traits. Hardy proposed that there was a time in human evolution when we were aquatic apescreatures of the sea.
The argument for the aquatic ape theory was based mainly on facts of comparative anatomy. Chapter four the aquatic ape theory mermaids are real. Her persistence paid off as the aquatic ape theory began to be discussed in scientific journals, but her success meant that she was open to attack. So she continued to write and publish four more books on the theory, called the aquatic ape. The aquatic ape theory suggests that when our ancestors moved onto the savanna they were already different from apes. In the decades since, morgans aquatic ape hypothesis has gained widespread support. Key proponents of aat aquatic ape theory hypothesis. He served as a subeditor for the journal of laryngology and otology for nearly a decade. The aquatic ape hypothesis aah, also referred to as aquatic ape theory aat is the idea that. The features distinguishing them are far more varied than the features dividing other pairs of. A critique of the aquatic ape theory, with examples refuting the basic premises of the theory. I had just watched the animal planet mockumentary on tv and was left with at least a hundred questions as to the basis of the aquatic ape theory.
Cq press your definitive resource for politics, policy and people. The aquatic ape theory is a heavily demonizedshunned theory by the mainstream which suggests we evolved in a habitat that at one time became flooded for a long time or seasonally forcing us to wade in water as a daily or seasonal part of life. Those of you who read my post, bipedal the aquatic ape theory, might be interested to learn of this guest blog on scienceblogs by marc verhaegen. The first article is reprinted in elaine morgans 1982 book, the aquatic ape, along with excerpts of the other two articles showing those bits that differ from the original or add more information. Promotes a variation on the aquatic ape theory that suggests humans evolved from two hominids that were adapted to a waterside habitat. Contrary to its cryptozoological title, its actually more about real history than it sounds, but thats a story for another day. It was given some fresh publicity by naturalist david attenborough in two bbc radio programs in september 2016. I can see two possible future scenarios for the aquatic ape theory. According to the evolutionists aquatic ape theory aat, we all came from apes that lived underwater, much like the seamonkeys seen in the back of old archie comic books. The writer elaine morgan championed it in her book the aquatic ape, and developed the hypothesis further, marshalling a seemingly. Paleoanthropology, the study of human evolution, is a sub discipline of paleontology, the study of fossils. Elaine morgan gives a revolutionary hypothesis that explains our anatomic anomalieswhy we walk on. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search.
The aquatic ape theory was first proposed by max westenhofer in 1942, then once again in 1960 through the independent research of alister hardy. The basic idea is that human evolution was heavily influenced by the presence of bodies of water, and many of our signature characteristics and differences from. In the book, the aquatic ape by elaine morgan, the author tries to explain a theory of the evolution of man, to the reader. And now i have found the island where it could have happened. That ingenious theory, now referred to as the aquatic ape hypothesis aah or aquatic ape theory aat, was first considered by antarctic marine biologist sir alister hardy. Elaine morgan 192020 was the author of the 1972 book the descent of woman, which suggested that human evolution had an aquatic origin. It suggests that the significant loss of body hair, bipedalism, and other characteristics evolved some time earlier in an aquatic or semi aquatic environment, when the human and ape lines first diverged.
Recently a new book on the aquatic ape theory was published. Most credible theory of human evolution new ed by morgan, elaine isbn. Textbooks on human evolution have been either ignoring or ridiculing the aquatic ape theory for the. Sorry david attenborough, we didnt evolve from aquatic apes. Humans differ from apes in a surprising number of ways. The aquatic ape theory can explain how we came to have such features as long hair, protruding noses, and naked skin. My book arrived both sooner and in better condition that i expected. A new aquatic ape theory science smithsonian magazine. It has been the subject of a number of popular books, most notably those of elaine morgan, author of the aquatic ape, the scars of evolution and the aquatic ape hypothesis.
Books, articles, publications about the aquatic ape theory. Aquatic ape theory human origins thunderbolts forum v2. Nevertheless, this theory is almost entirely dismissed as being fringe at best, and crackpot at worst. Books and publications semiaquatic human ancestors. The scars of evolution 1990, the descent of the child 1994, the aquatic ape hypothesis 1997 and the naked darwinist 2008 and continued to promote the aquatic ape theory until the end of her life. This idea was attacked at first by scientists, but the book became an international bestseller.
Billions of years ago a bunch of monkeys lived under the sea. The youngest artefacts have been chemically traced to the kutaubao obsidian sub source in talasea, new britain north of new guinea which means that the obsidian must have been transported 3 500 km, thus representing the longest traded obsidian in the world for this time period. The aquatic ape theory aka aat or aah ill generally use the term aath on this site hypothesizes that humans went through an aquatic or semi aquatic stage in our evolution, generally said to have occurred during the transition from the last common ancestor we shared with apes lca to hominids although some aath proponents. In a nutshell, its a book written for the nonacademic masses, so dont expect it to be written in a scholarly manner.
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