Re: Savanna apes

"Marc Verhaegen" <m_verhaegen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C3A07DF5.B6DA%m_verhaegen@xxxxxxxxxxxx

Op 01-01-2008 23:11, in artikel
fdf5a155-1bce-4d30-b2ea-880b6b4c910a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Lee
Olsen
<paleocity@xxxxxxxxxxx> schreef:

On Jan 1, 1:33 pm, Marc Verhaegen <m_verhae...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Yes, what else?? Didn't you know??

Aquatic Ape (non)Theory: Comments on a Recent Guest Lecture
by
Cameron M. Smith
PhD, Department of Archaeology
If you were among the unfortunate crowd who spent a good amount of
time listening to visiting lecturer Elaine Morgan recently,
regarding the 'Aquatic Ape Theory', be advised of the following
points.
1. Aquatic Ape Theory has been scientifically reviewed

Ridiculous. The man doesn't know what he's talking about: he doesn't even
mention Stephen Cunnane's book "The survival of the fattest" or our TREE
paper (google "aquarboreal").

Here is an example of Marco's dishonesty on display. Note
that he hasn't indictated any snippery or "editing" of the
following passage --just replaced "AAT" with "ST". This is
just more of the same dishonesty that he trumpets when he
lists Tobias and Stringer in his little macro --and fails to
provide the *critical* fact that neither supports the AAT.

You're a fraud Marco, and a cheap one at that.

The savanna "theory" has been scientifically reviewed &, despite what was
presented ad nauseam, it has been found to be completely wanting. ST is
not
a "credible alternative theory"; it is what is known as a post-hoc
accommodative argument. ST does not really have a coherent body of
theory,
only a lot of disassociated non-explanations for no biological
characteristics at all of the genus Homo. People should be aware that ST
is
not "mainstream" any more or "a viable alternative" to AAT.
ST is poorly regarded because it is a poor explanatory device. It is
poorly
regarded because it has been examined & found to be invalid. It is not
poorly regarded because of some scientific cover-up or paranoia. It is not
poorly regarded because scientists cannot accept change. Scientific
knowledge does change, all the time, and it has been pointed out that
science is the worst place to try to hide anything because fraud will be
exposed through experiment. ST is simply a theory that has been evaluated
(&
ditched) by most serious anthropologists:

Tobias 1995 ³We were all profoundly and unutterably wrong! S All the
former savannah supporters (including myself) must now swallow our earlier
words S²
Wood 1996 ³the Osavannah¹ hypothesis of human origins, in which the
cooling begat the savannah and the savannah begat humanity, is now
discredited²
Stringer 1997 ³One of the strong points about the aquatic theory is in
explaining the origin of bipedality. If our ancestors did go into the
water,
that would forced them to walk upright S²
Tobias 1998 ³Bamford identified fossil vines or lianas of Dichapetalum
in the same Member 4: such vines hang from forest trees and would not be
expected in open savannah. The team at Makapansgat found floral and faunal
evidence that the layers containing Australopithecus reflected forest or
forest margin conditions. From Hadar, in Ethiopia, where OLucy¹ was found,
and from Aramis in Ethiopia, where Tim White¹s team found Ardipithecus
ramidus S well-wooded and even forested conditions were inferred from the
fauna accompanying the hominid fossils. All the fossil evidence adds up to
the small-brained, bipedal hominids of four to 2.5 Ma having lived in a
woodland or forest niche, not savannah.² ³S if ever our earliest
ancestors
were savannah dwellers, we must have been the worst, the most profligate
urinators there²
Stringer 2001 ³In the past I have agreed that we lack plausible models
for the origins of bipedalism and have agreed that wading in water can
facilitate bipedal locomotion (as observed in other normally quadrupedal
primates). I have never said that this must have been the forcing
mechanism
in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. As for coastal colonisation,
I
argued in my Nature News & Views last year that this was an event in the
late Pleistocene that may have facilitated the spread of modern humans.²
Groves & Cameron 2004 ³Nor can we exclude the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
Elaine Morgan has long argued that many aspects of human anatomy are best
explained as a legacy of a semiaquatic phase in the proto-human
trajectory,
and this includes upright posture to cope with increased water depth as
our
ancestors foraged farther and further from the lake or seashore.²
Wrangham 2005 ³Here I follow the conventional assumption that hominins
began in the savanna.² ³S the composition of the Okavango as a network of
islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. For those who envisage
bipedalism as facilitated by the need to traverse or exploit aquatic
environments, an inland delta that generates low islands termitogenically
or
hydrodynamically offers rich scenarios.²
Alemseged 2006 ³I believe we should just put the savannah theory aside.
I think they basically became biped while they were living in a wooded,
covered environment S²
Thorpe et al. 2007 ³S early hominins occupied woodland environments,
not
open or even bush-savannah environments (such as sites including Allia
Bay,
Aramis, Assa Issie and now Laetoli) ... they retained long grasping
forelimbs, which are more obviously relevant in an arboreal contextS²



.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: AAT yahoo group more than 500 members
    ... former savannah supporters must now swallow our earlier ... in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. ... Groves & Cameron 2004 ³Nor can we exclude the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. ... islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Lucy = fossil Gorilla species?
    ... former savannah supporters must now swallow our earlier ... such vines hang from forest trees and would not be ... in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. ... islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: Hs living in caves three miles from the sea (Re: Hs littoral164 ka
    ... former savannah supporters must now swallow our earlier ... such vines hang from forest trees and would not be ... in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. ... islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: New Savanna Man from China 2 mya
    ... All the former savannah ... the layers containing Australopithecus reflected forest or forest margin ... in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. ... islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)
  • Re: Sabretooths
    ... former savannah supporters must now swallow our earlier ... such vines hang from forest trees and would not be ... in hominids, but I do consider it plausible. ... islands could favor the evolution of bipedalism. ...
    (sci.anthropology.paleo)