I finally caught up with Scars of Evolution part 2: well worth a listen if the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis interests you, and still available here. The programme concentrated on three arguments:
1) Brain size: the remarkable growth in our ancestors’ brain size strongly suggests a diet rich in the necessary nutrients, notably omega-3 fatty acids and iodine, which are available in abundance in a marine environment.
2) Breathing: for land mammals, including all other primates, breathing is like heart rate, something outside voluntary control. For fully aquatic mammals like dolphins and whales, breathing is entirely under conscious control (they sleep a half-brain at a time so they can keep coming up for air). For us, it’s mostly unconscious but can be controlled voluntarily: a necessary adaptation for a semi-aquatic life, and of course for speech.
3) The Vernix: we’re the only primates to be born covered in a waxy substance known as the Vernix caseosa. Useful for when you’re born in the water. It turns out seals may have something similar.
Well, I’m convinced, but Jim Moore has said he’ll be putting up a rebuttal on his anti-AAT website.
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