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...

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Semi aquatic animals

Human beings are not the only animals to have descended from semi-aquatic ancestors. Another example of a terrestrial mammal that had semi-aquatic ancestors is the elephant. And like us, elephants are large bodied animals, with a large brain and superior intelligence that have lost their fur. Their trunk is a useful snorkel meaning they can stay submerged underwater using their trunk to breathe.

Elephant ancestors were semi-aquatic. A primitive ancestor of today's elephants grazed in swamps 40 million years ago, according to a study of fossil teeth. The evidence that the ancient relative of today's elephants lived in fresh water is published today by an international team led by an Oxford University scientist.

Moeritherium, a 37 million-year-old amphibious relative of modern elephants. Elephants, those large and lumbering landlubbers, used to live partially in the water, according to new research. A recent study found that an ancient elephant ancestor called Moeritherium spent most of its time in rivers and swamps.

"A recent study found that an ancient elephant ancestor called Moeritherium spent most of its time in rivers and swamps.

Scientists knew that elephants are related to modern aquatic creatures such as manatees, but they had never identified an ancient elephant relative that lived in water. Now the evolutionary link is there." [1]

"Living elephants and their extinct relatives share a common ancestor with manatees, dugongs and the other aquatic mammals known as sirenians." [2]

African bull elephant taking a dip

Other terrestrial animals which have a close affinity to water, are excellent swimmers and may have had historical connections to water in their past evolution include pigs, horses, rhinoceros.

Extant semi-aquatic animals include: otters, beavers, seals, hippopotomus, platypus, capybara, crocodile, platypus, muskrat, coypu, sea cows, walrus, elephant seal, polar bears, sea-otters, penguins, mink, salamander, water vole, manatee, etc.

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