Aquatic ape theory

The Aquatic Ape theory argues that in the past, humanity's primate ancestors dwelt in shallow waters for the sake of safety and food supply. The German biologist Max Westenhõfer was perhaps the first to publish the idea in an evolutionary context. The theory seeks to explain human traits such as hairlessness, salty tears, fat tissue, bipedalism and sweat glands. It also explains why human body is streamlined and why apes quickly drown when put in water while humans do not. Using the principle of convergent evolution, it says that life in an aquatic environment explains these features, and that a transition from ape to hominid in a non-aquatic environment cannot.

The theory is somewhat out of favor because several key pieces of evidence fail to support the theory. For example, hairlessness, while found in several aquatic mammals, is not indicative of aquatic mammals (see aardvarks and rhinoceros).

External Links

• Aquatic Ape Theory
• Aquatic Ape Theory--Elaine Morgan