Mermaid: The Aquatic Ape Theory
The Aquatic Ape Theory Society hears the word “mermaid” and thinks about a mythical creature that sings and lives in the sea. The Aquatic Ape Theory takes the view of mermaids and tells one the real facts about ancient mermaids that humans are said to evolve from. One may wonder how mermaids have gone almost undetected for so many years. That is in fact because they live in parts of the oceans that humans have never explored. Scientists have recently discovered two new breeds of whales, the biggest mammals known to mankind, so what else lives in the ocean undiscovered? The Aquatic Ape Theory is relatively unknown. Many people believe it is a hoax. Scientists have long questioned the theory of evolution in regards to the Aquatic Ape Theory
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or more commonly called the Mermaid. One may not know about the Aquatic Ape Theory. Discovery Channel once stated that “the Aquatic Ape Theory”, also known as AAT, “which claims that humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past”, meaning humans were once aquatic mammals (Mermaids: The Body Found). Discovery Channel also said that “while coastal flooding millions of years ago turned some of our ancestors inland, is it possible that one group of our ancestors did not retreat from water but rather went in deeper?”(Mermaids: The Body Found) The fact still stands that there are animals that moved from land to the sea. Could humans have done that, too? There is much evidence to support this theory, to see it all one may go watch Animal Planet’s documentary Mermaids: The Body Found. Some of the evidence consists of spears, which “deep sea fishermen all over the world have found…them in fish caught in the open ocean”(The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish). Theses spears do not appear to be made by mankind, but seem to have been made in the ocean by intelligent sea creatures, mermaids. An interview was found in the Truman News archives where a fisherman talks about his experience with the creature scientists call the aquatic ape. Hans Bauer, the interviewee, states that, when he and his crew mates were trawling the deep waters of the Bornholm Basin that:
Sometimes when we’d pull our nest in and we’d find them. Fish just killed. Fish with spears in their side. I had saw these a lot in my life. Then one trip, I had brought my camera…It was on this trip that we hauled in our nets and saw something climbing out of the net as we pulled it in. I ran for my camera and got a shot of it. I think this is what was making the spears. I think we were disturbing someone else’s fishing…(sic)(The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish). In Animal Planet’s documentary they also bring to light videos and interviews of scientists who were forced to help the government cover up the strange bodies found beached. A scientist that Animal Planet interviewed for their documentary stated that "in 1997, scientists from NOAA recorded a sound in the deep pacific. It's thought to be organic in nature and has never been identified. It's called the Bloop"(The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First Time). So the government has known about mysterious animals living in the ocean for awhile now, and they tried to hide this from society. Debbie Little interviewed Animal Planet's senior vice president of development, Charlie Foley. A question arose as to the validity of Animal Planet's documentary, which states that "in the early 2000's, it was proved that the Navy beached whales while testing sonar weapons. For years the Navy denied that they were responsible for these beaching"(The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First Time). Foley's answer was that "the Navy really has done this and for a long time tried to cover it up"(Little) There are many differences between humans and apes. Scientists can easily explain why humans resemble apes, because they share a common ancestor, but scientists fail to tell the ways they differ. Elaine Morgan said, On the question of why humans lost their body hair, it has been argued at various times that no explanation is called for, or that we may never know the reason, or even that there may not be a reason. (Morgan)
Morgan says “AAT is the only theory which logically connects all these and other enigmatic features”. Assuming that mankind’s earliest ancestor had lived in a flooded or semi-aquatic area for a long time, most of the questions about evolution can be easily answered. Humans, although classified with primates, are the only primates without fur.
Why is that? As stated there is no explanation as to why mankind is hairless, but there are some speculations. The most widely held theory about mankind’s evolution is that they “are descended from apes which moved out of the forest onto the grassland of the open Savannah” (Morgan). Naked mammals are known to live in only two places: a subterranean one or a wet one. A speculation is that humans became hairless to keep from overheating in the Savannah, but no other mammal does this. A covering of hair would defend the animal against the heat of the sun; this is why even in the hottest deserts, the desert-dwelling camel keeps its fur. Another speculation is it is to facilitate sweat-cooling, but many other species resort to sweat-cooling without losing their …show more content…
fur. Primates, born with little to no fat, do not gain and retain fat under the skin like humans. Foley stated that “the only other animals that have the kind of fat layer we do, all over the body, are exclusively marine mammals” (Little). Humans have ten times as many fat cells than would be expected in an animal of their size. Morgan stated that “there are two other kinds of animals which tend to acquire large deposits of fat-hibernating ones and aquatic ones” (Morgan). With hibernating animals, the layer of fat is seasonal; in aquatic animals, like humans, the fat layer is year round. In land mammals the fat is stored internally, around the kidneys and intestines, but in aquatic animals, like in humans, the fat is deposited under the skin. Morgan wrote “It is unlikely that man would have evolved this feature after moving to the plains and becoming a hunter, because it would have slowed him down”. Mankind’s tendency to gain fat is likely an inheritance from an earlier aquatic phase of their evolution. All baby primates are born skinny except for humans. Human babies are not only born fat, but continue to gain fat after birth. There are only two living creatures that walk on two legs: the human and, in the words of Morgan, “an aquatic bird, the penguin”. Compared to walking and running on four legs, which is faster, walking and running on two legs is very insufficient. Bipedalism causes many discomforts and pains such as: back pains, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, hernias, and problems in childbirth, it also exposes important organs to attack. Humans “have been doing it", walking on two legs that is, "for five million years and in that time our bodies have been drastically remodeled to make it easier” (Morgan). If mankind’s ancestor’s habitats became flooded, they would have been forced to walk on their hind legs whenever they had to go into the water, so they could keep their head above water. The only mammal that evolved a pelvis like mankind’s, suitable for bipedalism, was the long-extinct Oreopitheous, also known as the swamp ape. There are two animals known to scientists today besides humans that walk erect more easily than most other animals: the proboscis monkey, which live in the mangrove swamps of Borneo. The other animal is the bonobo, also known as the chimpanzee, which lives in a large tract of seasonally flooded forest, which would have covered an even more extensive area before the African climate became drier. Nonetheless, the human respitory system is voluntary breathing and the only other animals with voluntary breathing are aquatic mammals. Animal Planet stated that “human babies instinctively hold their breath when placed under water before they walk – something baby primates can’t do”(Mermaids: The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet (index.html)). Voluntary breath control is an aquatic adaptation. When aquatic mammals “decide how deep they are going to dive, they can estimate how much air they need to inhale. Without voluntary breathing it is very unlikely that we could have learned to speak” (Morgan), land mammals usually breathe through their nose. This is because the windpipe, or larynx, goes up to the back of their throat to their nasal passages. The human larynx rests beside the esophagus in the throat, which allows them to talk. A dog, for example, would not be able to bark if it did not have the ability to move its windpipe from its nasal passages to its throat. Human babies are born with their larynx connected to their nasal passages, but after a few months it moves down and permantely rests in their throat. Having one’s larynx in one’s throat is likely an aquatic adaptation, because air-breathing aquatic mammals would need to gulp large breaths of air quickly and that is easier to do through the mouth than through the nose. Nevertheless, there are many more differences between humans and apes besides the ones listed above.
For example, humans “have a different way of sweating from other animals, using different skin glands. It is very wasteful of the body’s essential resources of water and salt” (Morgan). Humans often mate face-to-face, the reason being the mode of “locomotion in which the spine and hind legs are in a straight line, and that affects the position of the sex organs” (Morgan). The only other animals that mate like humans are aquatic mammals, not the primates that humans are linked with. Another difference is the brain size; this would be an advantage to early man, and to chimpanzees, but what would force them to acquire a larger brain? Scientists explain this brain growth by saying that mankind’s ancestors had an abundant source of food with an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acid, but that acid is mainly found in the sea, not in forests. Humans have million of sebaceous glands which disperse oil over their head, face, and torso. The chimpanzee’s sebaceous glands are said to be vestigial, whereas the humans are described as enormous. No one can quite explain the purpose of sebaceous glands, the only known reason is waterproofing of the skin or
fur. The Aquatic Ape Theory is relatively unknown. Many people think it is a hoax. Scientists have long questioned the theory of evolution in regards to the Aquatic Ape Theory, or more commonly called the Mermaid. Some of society does not believe, and still some do. Belief is based on one’s opinion, and/or religion. The question Animal Planet posed is “isn’t there a kernel of truth beneath the legend?”(Mermaids The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet (index.html))
Works Citied
Little, Debbie. “Mermaids:The Body Found Q & A”. New York Post. 4/8/2013. “Mermaids: The Body Found”. 4/8/2013. “Mermaids: The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet
(index.html)”. Animal Planet. May 27. 4/8/2013. Morgan, Elaine. “Aquatic Ape Theory”. 4/8/2013. The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish.
Animal Planet. Discovery.com. Web. 4/9/2013
The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First time.
Animal planet. Discovery.com. Web. 4/9/2013.
or more commonly called the Mermaid. One may not know about the Aquatic Ape Theory. Discovery Channel once stated that “the Aquatic Ape Theory”, also known as AAT, “which claims that humans had an aquatic stage in our evolutionary past”, meaning humans were once aquatic mammals (Mermaids: The Body Found). Discovery Channel also said that “while coastal flooding millions of years ago turned some of our ancestors inland, is it possible that one group of our ancestors did not retreat from water but rather went in deeper?”(Mermaids: The Body Found) The fact still stands that there are animals that moved from land to the sea. Could humans have done that, too? There is much evidence to support this theory, to see it all one may go watch Animal Planet’s documentary Mermaids: The Body Found. Some of the evidence consists of spears, which “deep sea fishermen all over the world have found…them in fish caught in the open ocean”(The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish). Theses spears do not appear to be made by mankind, but seem to have been made in the ocean by intelligent sea creatures, mermaids. An interview was found in the Truman News archives where a fisherman talks about his experience with the creature scientists call the aquatic ape. Hans Bauer, the interviewee, states that, when he and his crew mates were trawling the deep waters of the Bornholm Basin that:
Sometimes when we’d pull our nest in and we’d find them. Fish just killed. Fish with spears in their side. I had saw these a lot in my life. Then one trip, I had brought my camera…It was on this trip that we hauled in our nets and saw something climbing out of the net as we pulled it in. I ran for my camera and got a shot of it. I think this is what was making the spears. I think we were disturbing someone else’s fishing…(sic)(The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish). In Animal Planet’s documentary they also bring to light videos and interviews of scientists who were forced to help the government cover up the strange bodies found beached. A scientist that Animal Planet interviewed for their documentary stated that "in 1997, scientists from NOAA recorded a sound in the deep pacific. It's thought to be organic in nature and has never been identified. It's called the Bloop"(The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First Time). So the government has known about mysterious animals living in the ocean for awhile now, and they tried to hide this from society. Debbie Little interviewed Animal Planet's senior vice president of development, Charlie Foley. A question arose as to the validity of Animal Planet's documentary, which states that "in the early 2000's, it was proved that the Navy beached whales while testing sonar weapons. For years the Navy denied that they were responsible for these beaching"(The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First Time). Foley's answer was that "the Navy really has done this and for a long time tried to cover it up"(Little) There are many differences between humans and apes. Scientists can easily explain why humans resemble apes, because they share a common ancestor, but scientists fail to tell the ways they differ. Elaine Morgan said, On the question of why humans lost their body hair, it has been argued at various times that no explanation is called for, or that we may never know the reason, or even that there may not be a reason. (Morgan)
Morgan says “AAT is the only theory which logically connects all these and other enigmatic features”. Assuming that mankind’s earliest ancestor had lived in a flooded or semi-aquatic area for a long time, most of the questions about evolution can be easily answered. Humans, although classified with primates, are the only primates without fur.
Why is that? As stated there is no explanation as to why mankind is hairless, but there are some speculations. The most widely held theory about mankind’s evolution is that they “are descended from apes which moved out of the forest onto the grassland of the open Savannah” (Morgan). Naked mammals are known to live in only two places: a subterranean one or a wet one. A speculation is that humans became hairless to keep from overheating in the Savannah, but no other mammal does this. A covering of hair would defend the animal against the heat of the sun; this is why even in the hottest deserts, the desert-dwelling camel keeps its fur. Another speculation is it is to facilitate sweat-cooling, but many other species resort to sweat-cooling without losing their …show more content…
fur. Primates, born with little to no fat, do not gain and retain fat under the skin like humans. Foley stated that “the only other animals that have the kind of fat layer we do, all over the body, are exclusively marine mammals” (Little). Humans have ten times as many fat cells than would be expected in an animal of their size. Morgan stated that “there are two other kinds of animals which tend to acquire large deposits of fat-hibernating ones and aquatic ones” (Morgan). With hibernating animals, the layer of fat is seasonal; in aquatic animals, like humans, the fat layer is year round. In land mammals the fat is stored internally, around the kidneys and intestines, but in aquatic animals, like in humans, the fat is deposited under the skin. Morgan wrote “It is unlikely that man would have evolved this feature after moving to the plains and becoming a hunter, because it would have slowed him down”. Mankind’s tendency to gain fat is likely an inheritance from an earlier aquatic phase of their evolution. All baby primates are born skinny except for humans. Human babies are not only born fat, but continue to gain fat after birth. There are only two living creatures that walk on two legs: the human and, in the words of Morgan, “an aquatic bird, the penguin”. Compared to walking and running on four legs, which is faster, walking and running on two legs is very insufficient. Bipedalism causes many discomforts and pains such as: back pains, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, hernias, and problems in childbirth, it also exposes important organs to attack. Humans “have been doing it", walking on two legs that is, "for five million years and in that time our bodies have been drastically remodeled to make it easier” (Morgan). If mankind’s ancestor’s habitats became flooded, they would have been forced to walk on their hind legs whenever they had to go into the water, so they could keep their head above water. The only mammal that evolved a pelvis like mankind’s, suitable for bipedalism, was the long-extinct Oreopitheous, also known as the swamp ape. There are two animals known to scientists today besides humans that walk erect more easily than most other animals: the proboscis monkey, which live in the mangrove swamps of Borneo. The other animal is the bonobo, also known as the chimpanzee, which lives in a large tract of seasonally flooded forest, which would have covered an even more extensive area before the African climate became drier. Nonetheless, the human respitory system is voluntary breathing and the only other animals with voluntary breathing are aquatic mammals. Animal Planet stated that “human babies instinctively hold their breath when placed under water before they walk – something baby primates can’t do”(Mermaids: The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet (index.html)). Voluntary breath control is an aquatic adaptation. When aquatic mammals “decide how deep they are going to dive, they can estimate how much air they need to inhale. Without voluntary breathing it is very unlikely that we could have learned to speak” (Morgan), land mammals usually breathe through their nose. This is because the windpipe, or larynx, goes up to the back of their throat to their nasal passages. The human larynx rests beside the esophagus in the throat, which allows them to talk. A dog, for example, would not be able to bark if it did not have the ability to move its windpipe from its nasal passages to its throat. Human babies are born with their larynx connected to their nasal passages, but after a few months it moves down and permantely rests in their throat. Having one’s larynx in one’s throat is likely an aquatic adaptation, because air-breathing aquatic mammals would need to gulp large breaths of air quickly and that is easier to do through the mouth than through the nose. Nevertheless, there are many more differences between humans and apes besides the ones listed above.
For example, humans “have a different way of sweating from other animals, using different skin glands. It is very wasteful of the body’s essential resources of water and salt” (Morgan). Humans often mate face-to-face, the reason being the mode of “locomotion in which the spine and hind legs are in a straight line, and that affects the position of the sex organs” (Morgan). The only other animals that mate like humans are aquatic mammals, not the primates that humans are linked with. Another difference is the brain size; this would be an advantage to early man, and to chimpanzees, but what would force them to acquire a larger brain? Scientists explain this brain growth by saying that mankind’s ancestors had an abundant source of food with an adequate supply of omega-3 fatty acid, but that acid is mainly found in the sea, not in forests. Humans have million of sebaceous glands which disperse oil over their head, face, and torso. The chimpanzee’s sebaceous glands are said to be vestigial, whereas the humans are described as enormous. No one can quite explain the purpose of sebaceous glands, the only known reason is waterproofing of the skin or
fur. The Aquatic Ape Theory is relatively unknown. Many people think it is a hoax. Scientists have long questioned the theory of evolution in regards to the Aquatic Ape Theory, or more commonly called the Mermaid. Some of society does not believe, and still some do. Belief is based on one’s opinion, and/or religion. The question Animal Planet posed is “isn’t there a kernel of truth beneath the legend?”(Mermaids The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet (index.html))
Works Citied
Little, Debbie. “Mermaids:The Body Found Q & A”. New York Post. 4/8/2013. “Mermaids: The Body Found”. 4/8/2013. “Mermaids: The Body Found|Premieres only on Animal Planet
(index.html)”. Animal Planet. May 27. 4/8/2013. Morgan, Elaine. “Aquatic Ape Theory”. 4/8/2013. The Body Found: Ancient Spears Found in Fish.
Animal Planet. Discovery.com. Web. 4/9/2013
The Body Found: Scientists Speak Out for First time.
Animal planet. Discovery.com. Web. 4/9/2013.