RIP Elaine Morgan, popularizer of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis

I remember as a kid reading about the aquatic Ape theory reading Ivan Sanderson's books. I believed he mentioned that you could see "webbing" between the toe's in some people more than others (I remember holding my foot up and looking at my toes) those were good books he wrote and magazine articles.

Anyway, just heard (read this today)

Elaine Morgan, author of the highly influential The Descent of Woman, has died at the age of 92 from a stroke. She will be remembered for challenging male-centric theories of human evolution, and for promoting the idea that early humans, for a short time, began adapting to aquatic life.

Back in the early 1970s, after becoming exasperated with the scientific establishment, the Welsh-born writer took matters into her own hands by publishing her seminal book, The Descent of Woman (1972). In it, she argued against traditional (i.e. male-biased) interpretations of human evolution while challenging the idea that male activities, like hunting, were its primary drivers.

Instead, she proposed that women played an equal — or even superior — role in evolution, and insisted that women should not be relegated to the Darwinian sidelines as ‘mere’ childbearers. She challenged “Tarzanist” interpretations of evolution (namely those of Desmond Morris and the “Savanna Hypothesis”) and, in their place, offered unconventional explanations for human evolution.

More here and film below io9.com...

Elaine Morgan says we evolved from aquatic apes

"Uploaded on Jul 31, 2009


www.ted.com... Elaine Morgan is a tenacious proponent of the aquatic ape hypothesis: the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. Hear her spirited defense of the idea -- and her theory on why mainstream science doesn't take it seriously. "

I had never heard of her before. This type of material is what I originally came to ATS for so thanks for this, now I have some listening and reading to do

May she rest in peace, the brave woman.
I'm hoping she inspired some young scientist to think outside the box like she did and continue her research.

I'm actually a big fan of that specific theory. I feel no need to defend my appreciation for it, and as for science, I just look at dumb crap like The Copenhagen Interpretation, The Big Bang, and String Theory, and I really don't feel the need to address any resistance to the idea that Homo Sapiens physical anomalies, relative to the rest of the primate community on this planet, is much more likely the result of a period of semi-aquatic existence than the result of alien inbreeding or the default "just because" cop out that rules the more traditional scientific circles.

I never knew where the Aquatic Ape theory came from or who was behind pushing it. Good for her.

Here is some info to check out on where this all started, "Initial Bipedalism"

Initial Bipedalism is a pseudoscientific theory which suggests that the first mammals were originally aquatic bipeds. The theory is routed in Cryptozoology. The theory is based on a radical concept which most scientists do not accept.

According to the theory of Initial bipedalism, bipedalism remained in the human lineage, whereas other mammals, including monkeys and apes, have developed a mode of quadrupedal locomotion. Initial Bidpedalism claims the ancestor of all mammals were all biped in the past and bound to a marine environment. The evidence cited for this is based on an interpretation of embryology, anatomy and cryptozoological research. Initial bipedalism claims that the common ancestor of all species was a biped, linked to an aquatic habitat.

History

The theory of Initial bipedalism was first formulated in the 1920s by German anatomy professor Dr Max Westenhöfer, as well as later independently by the Belgian zoologist Serge Frechkop. The theory was further developed by the Belgian-French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans in the 1950s, here the theory was mixed with cryptozoology. Bernard Heuvelmans's book On the Track of Unknown Animals discusses the theory in detail. The cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson also discussed the theory in his bigfoot book Abominable Snowman, Legend come to Life Charles Fort also mentioned the theory.

The theory was also pursued in the 1980s by the French-German ichthyologist François de Sarre, who added his hypothesis of what he calls the "Marine homonculus", as a common ancestor to all vertebrates, which originally lived in the oceans. His hypothesis is that as a jellyfish, the ancestral creature swam in a vertical position. He claims "Natatory paddles" developed and were never used for locomotion on ground, thus according to De Sarre the human hand with five fingers has remained primitive as in early vertebrates.

More here from source of above wikibin.org...

I just remember when I was a kid reading about this it was really weird and cool