Aquatic Ape Theory - What is it?

A Brief Summary of AAT - key arguments

A Brief History and Key Proponents of AAT

When / Where / How?

Ape to Human Evolution Timeline

Alternative theories of human evolution

Wikipedia and the scientific community

... Anatomical Evidence
... Bipedalism
... Birth and babies
... Brain
... Breath control
... Descended larynx
... Diet
... Diseases
... Fat
... Fingers, toes and feet
... Furlessness
... Hair and baldness
... Human ailments
... Kidneys
... Language & Song
... Menopause
... Nose
... Olfactory sense
... Pachyostosis
... Paranasal Sinuses
... Platycephaly
... Reverse osmosis
... Sexual features
... Sleep (USWS)
... Surfer's ear
... Sweating
... Tears
... Underwater vision
... Viruses
... Waterside environments

. Homo Ancestors
... Trachillos bipedal hominids
... Homo erectus
... Homo neanderthalensis
... Sea Gypsies/ the Moken
... Homo sapiens - water afinity
... Coastal Migration
... Pan and Gorilla ancestry
... Semi-Aquatic Animals

. Testable Hypotheses
. Fossil evidence
. Genetic evidence
. Paleoecological evidence
. Retroviral marker in apes
. Acheulean handaxes

A call to scientists...

Recent News and Updates

Books and publications

Articles

Videos links

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Contact

Homo sapiens - water affinity

There's no denying that water plays an essential role for all life on earth, but as a supposedly terrestrial mammalian species, humans seem to have a greater dependency on water than other species, and not just for the obvious biological needs. Not only do we rely on water to drink and irrigate our crops, but we are so dependent on water for our daily needs that we have brought it into our individual homes, to facilitate washing our bodies, our hair, our clothing, our pots and pans, our houses, and even for defaecating and urinating. We enjoy water holidays and flock in droves to the seaside in hot weather as if being pulled by an invisible force. We are a species that cannot be far away from a water source for very long. We have polydipsia (we drink an abnormal amount), polyuria (we pee an excessive amount) and hyperdidrosis (we sweat an excessive amount). Women have very water excessive menstruation compared to other mammals. In evolutionary terms all of this would create a complete anomoly for a species that is adapted to dry or savannah-like conditions, but totally in line with species that has evolved close to or in a permanent source of water.

The benefits of water on human health and longevity are profound.

Factsheet: People and Oceans General

 The ocean is vast, covering 140 million square miles (363 million square km), equivalent to approximately 72 per cent of the earth's surface.
 More than 600 million people (around 10 per cent of the world’s population) live in coastal areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level.
 Nearly 2.4 billion people (about 40 per cent of the world’s population) live within 100 km (60 miles) of the coast.
 Oceans, coastal and marine resources are very important for people living in coastal communities, who represent 37 per cent of the global population in 2017. Health and nutrition  Human health is being impacted by the enhanced survival and spread of tropical diseases due to increasing ocean temperatures.
 Fish is one of the most important sources of animal protein. It accounts for about 17 per cent of protein at the global level and exceeds 50 per cent in many least-developed countries.
 The nutrients found in fish are important for optimal neurodevelopment in children and for improving cardiovascular health. Sustainable livelihoods and decent work
 About 97 per cent of the world’s fishermen live in developing countries and fishing is their major source for food and income. Women account for most of the workers in secondary marine-related activities such as fish processing and marketing.
 Overall, 80 per cent of the world’s fish stocks for which assessment information is available are reported as fully exploited or overexploited. Illegal, unregulated, unreported fishing affects about 20 per cent of the global fish yields, which cost about $US23 billion a year. An estimated 27 percent of landed fish is lost or wasted between landing and consumption.
 Small scale fisheries supply almost half of the world’s seafood stock. Small scale fisheries are however, among others, disadvantaged by lack of access to markets, even domestically, and a lack of pricing power. Economy
 The ocean-economy, which includes employment, ecosystem services provided by the ocean, and cultural services, is estimated at between US$3-6 trillion/year.
 Fisheries and aquaculture contribute $US100 billion per year and about 260 million jobs to the global economy.
 Shipping is responsible for more than 90 per cent of the trade between countries. The global oceansbased economy is estimated at $US3 trillion a year, which is around 5 per cent of global GDP.
 Approximately 50 per cent of all international tourists travel to coastal areas. In some developing countries, notably Small Island Development States, tourism accounts for over 25 per cent of GDP.

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In a 32 year long study Professor Steven Blair, University of South Carolina, discovered that swimming confers previously unsuspected health benefits far in excess of those provided by other forms of exercise. In a study of more than 40,000 men ages 20 to 90, he found that swimmers were 50 percent less likely to die during the study period than were walkers or runners. No reason for this disparity has yet been suggested.

Swimming to Longevity

Delivering the keynote address to the World Aquatic Health Conference in September 2008, Dr. Steven N. Blair asked a simple question: Does swimming reduce your risk of dying? As he stressed then and repeats in detail here, the answer is a resounding yes. Indeed, the findings he offers stand among the most compelling reasons ever offered to promote swimming and other forms of aquatic exercise to the general public.

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Swimming and All-Cause Mortality Risk Compared With Running, Walking, and Sedentary Habits in Men

Nancy L. Chase, University of South Carolina
Xuemei Sui, University of South Carolina
Steven N. Blair, University of South Carolina

DOI: 10.25035/ijare.02.03.03

Abstract

Swimming, water jogging, and aqua aerobics are lifetime physical activities that provide many health benefits comparable to those of walking and running. Research on the association between swimming and mortality is scarce, however. To evaluate the association between different types of physical activity and all-cause mortality, we studied 40,547 men age 20-90 years who completed a health examination during 1971 – 2003. Cox proportional-hazards regression was used to estimate the relative risks according to physical activity exposure categories. A total of 3,386 deaths occurred during 543,330 man-years of observation. After adjustment for age, body-mass index, smoking status, alcohol intake, and family history of cardiovascular disease, swimmers had 53%, 50%, and 49% lower all-cause mortality risks than did men who were sedentary, walkers, or runners, respectively (p < 0.05 for each). Additional adjustment for baseline prevalent diseases did not change the inverse association between different activities and all-cause mortality. In conclusion, swimmers have lower mortality rates in comparison with those who were sedentary, walkers, and runners.

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Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body

A Mooventhan and L Nivethitha

Abstract

The use of water for various treatments (hydrotherapy) is probably as old as mankind. Hydrotherapy is one of the basic methods of treatment widely used in the system of natural medicine, which is also called as water therapy, aquatic therapy, pool therapy, and balneotherapy. Use of water in various forms and in various temperatures can produce different effects on different system of the body. Many studies/reviews reported the effects of hydrotherapy only on very few systems and there is lack of studies/reviews in reporting the evidence-based effects of hydrotherapy on various systems. We performed PubMed and PubMed central search to review relevant articles in English literature based on “effects of hydrotherapy/balneotherapy” on various systems of the body. Based on the available literature this review suggests that the hydrotherapy has a scientific evidence-based effect on various systems of the body.
Keywords: Evidence-based effects, Hydrotherapy, Various systems

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