The Aquatic Ape

A few decades ago I came across and greatly enjoyed the book 'Scars of Evolution' by Elaine Morgan.

Its premise was that we did not evolve from apes who climbed down from the trees to walk out into the savannah, but rather from apes that had lived in and near water. There are many bases on which the theory is presented, and perhaps the most enjoyable introduction to the subject would be through the two-part BBC radio item from Sir David Attenborough.

Today, on a whim, I decided to do a blog entry on the subject and introduce you to a few websites I had come across. Deciding to look for a few extra links, however, showed me just what a wonderland is the World Wide Web.

An introduction to the subject is a website set up by Elaine Morgan's grandson.

A no-nonsense analysis of the subject is presented in this website.

Then I found oddities;

This one is part of a website that is dedicated to the belief that we're headed for a global catastrophe in 2012.

This one is dedicated to what it calls 'primitivism'.

Then there's a New Age one proposing the use of dolphin mid-wives.

There's a creationist site completely ridiculing the theory (claiming, for instance, that AAT proposes that billions of years ago apes lived underwater and gave birth to human babies).

As the X-Files said; the truth is out there. A problem with the web, however, is that you can never be sure of what information you are receiving. Though the Creationist site was the most... what can I say... untruthful.

The subject is fascinating and I definitely believe that we are the Aquatic Ape.