From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Fri Jul 19 2002 - 13:34:15 MDT
In a message dated 7/19/02 9:43:18, kevin.bluck@mail.com writes:
> But, what is to say that our ancestors weren't "more aquatic"?
All the fossil evidence. An aquatic ape needs to be neutrally buoyant, needs
a head that's light so it's not topheavy, and will leave fossils and middens
where it lives. All these things are true of H. sapiens. None are true of
any
previous hominid. Sapiens is as aquatic as apes get (which isn't very).
We're
definitely designed to go for a swim, but not to live in the water.
On a speculative note, one apparent deficit of H. sapiens is that our
shoulders
were rejiggered in a manner which reduces upper arm strength. This is why
chimps are vastly stronger than humans. I wonder if this is an adaptation to
help us swim better. I've never seen any discussions of the advantages of the
shift.
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