What is it about?
We did not evolve in savannas (often assumed without evidence): early apes lived in swamp forests, with vertical spine, wading bipedally in shallow water + climbing arms overhead in the branches above the water: this is why "apes" differ from "monkeys": large body size, long legs (wading) & arms (branch-hanging), very broad breast-bone, thorax & pelvis, and tail-loss. During the Ice-Ages, human ancestors evolved further to live along coasts & rivers, feeding on shellfish etc.: this is why Homo evolved much larger brains, naked skin, stone tools etc. Google "GondwanaTalks Verhaegen English".
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Photo by Benjamin L. Jones on Unsplash
Why is it important?
In our opinion, the field of paleo-anthropology requires a thorough update: we did not evolve on hot African savannas, running after antelopes or so, as often assumed without scientific evidence ("quadrupedal forest apes evolved into bipedal savanna humans in Africa"??): we have always been waterside: our evolution happened at first in waterside forests + later also in less forested watersides, feeding also on fish, cray- & shellfish, which are rich in brain-specific nutrients, see e.g. dolphins or sea-otters . This explains why human anatomy differs so much from our nearest relatives (chimp & bonobo): large brain, naked skin, thick fat-layer, flat feet, tool use & handiness etc. It also explains different specifically-human diseases.
Perspectives
Why haven't paleo-anthropologists found fossil relatives of the African apes gorillas, bonobos & chimps? Because they're anthropocentrically biased: they see averywhere "human ancestors" but never chimp or gorilla ancestors! In fact, humans did not have chimp-like ancestors: chimp ancestors were a bit more human-like, e.g. frequently wading bipedally in forest swamps. This is illustrated by anatomical details that link the australopithecine fossils to gorilla ancestors (East-African australopiths) or to chimp & bonobo ancestors (South-African Australopithecus), as we show in different publications.
Marc Verhaegen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Reply to Sarmiento E. “Australopithecine Taxonomy and Phylogeny and the Savanna Hypothesis; Comment on Vaneechoutte et al. Have We Been Barking up the Wrong Ancestral Tree? Australopithecines Are Probably Not Our Ancestors. Nat. Anthropol. 2023, 2, 10007”, Drones and Autonomous Vehicles, January 2024, Sciscan Publishing Limited,
DOI: 10.35534/natanthropol.2024.10008.
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