"Marc Verhaegen"  wrote in
news:bu17ch$2g6m$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org: 

> 
> "J Moore"  wrote in message
> news:btvpal$243l$1{at}darwin.ediacara.org...
> 
>> We see this in Marc Verhaegen's insistence that the laws of
>> physiology and 
> homeostasis have changed in the past few years, rendering the
> information obsolete.
 

(snip Marc's accusation)

> The essence is this: you are incapable of explaining why humans &
> chimps differ. A coastal past in our history (probably end-Plio-,
> begin-Pleistocene, for some time) nicely explains a lot of these
> differences. Alister Hardy in his paper "Was Man more aquatic in the
> past?" (NS 1960) described how a sea-side life - beach-combing,
> wading, swimming, collecting coconuts, fruits, shellfish, turtles &
> turtle eggs, bird eggs, crabs, seaweeds etc. - explains many human
> traits (absent in our nearest relatives the chimps) a lot better than
> dry savanna scenarios do: very large brain (but reduced olfactory bulb
> - totally unexpected in the savanna), excellent breath-hold control
> (up to minutes), greater diving skills, well-developed vocality,
> extreme handiness & tool use, reduction of climbing skills, reduction
> of fur, more subcutaneous fat, very long legs, more linear body build,
> high needs of iodine, sodium & poly-unsaturated fatty acids etc.

One of the basic problems, as J. Moore pointed out, is that we are not in 
fact particularly well adapted to a fully aquatic existence. Diving from a 
height of 10 meters for humans is absurd (have you ever stood on a 10 meter 
board and looked down?) Repeated diving in humans from even a low board 
leads to sinus problems (as I have learned from experience). Our 
subcutaneous fat is nowhere near enough to allow us to spend any 
significant time in cold water (and water below the thermocline is always 
cold). Even in warm water our skin rapidly swells and becomes easily 
subject to abrasion and puncture. We are so poorly adapted to truly deep 
diving that the well-developed vocality is unlikely to be due to the 
development of conscious breathing control, as it may be in birds and truly 
aquatic mammals. It is more likely that the breath-hold control is a 
byproduct of speech. 



 We
> now know Hardy was wrong in thinking his seaside phase happened ~10 Ma 
> (not his fault, but due to the general opinion of
> paleo-anthropologists at the time). More likely the waterside phase
> (we don't know how long this (or these) lasted) happened during the
> Ice Ages: early Pleistocene Homo fossils or tools have been found in
> Israel, Algeria, Iran, Kenya, Georgia, Java, always near large bodies
> of water. When sea levels dropped, H.ergaster apparently followed the
> Mediterranean (>antecessor>neandertals) & Indian Ocean coasts
> (>erectus). Pleistocene coasts during the glacial periods were some
> 120 m below the present sea level, so many fossil & archeological
> finds show the inland Homo populations that entered the continents
> along the rivers & wetlands. In spite of this, Homo remains (but not
> australopithecine) have frequently been found amid shells, corals,
> barnacles etc., throughout the Pleistocene, in coasts all over the Old
> World (eg, Mojokerto, Terra Amata, Table Bay, Eritrea), even on
> islands that could only be reached by sea (Flores 0.8 Ma
> http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~mvaneech/outthere.htm  ).

Having said the above, a quick look at real estate prices for waterfront 
property makes a convincing case without any other evidence that we are 
adapted to life _near_ the water. Given our relatively high behavioral 
plasticity, even a relatively recent (0.8 ma would qualify as recent in my 
book) period of development primarily in a coastal setting might well make 
sense in explaining our love for water. However this will not account for 
bipedalism, hairlessness (have you looked at otters and seals?), brain 
size, control, long legs, vocality, or tool use. As for climbing ability, 
AFAIK we are more adept at climbing than we are at swimming - but that 
isn't saying much. On the whole I agree with Mr. Moore - what we are well 
adapted for is walking and talking. And long walks along the beach - well 
what could be more romantic than that?

Yours,

Bill Morse
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