Re: The Aerial Ape Theory

Lucie M. Melahn (lmm5@cornell.edu)
29 Apr 1994 20:20:30 GMT

In article <8846@gold.gvg.tek.com> , preston@gvgadg.gvg.tek.com writes:
>(1) Humans are fascinated by flight.
>(2) People often have flying dreams.
>(3) Lack of body hair is aerodynamically sound design.
>(4) I once saw a batch of flying monkeys carry off a little girl in a
movie.

Wow, I never looked at it that way before. This is really making me
think. I'd like to also add:

(5) Small babies aren't afraid of heights.
(6) The flattened nose of humans makes more sense than a
forward-projecting nose for a creature that has its face in the wind.
(7) We have stereo vision, all the better for judging distance, which is
VERY important when flying.
(8) The large number of sweat glands we have probably evolved as a way to
dispel excess heat generated by flying.
(9) Flying is an excellent way to escape predators of all kinds (except
for pesky things like eagles...well, I'll have to think about that one
further).

You may be on to something here!

Lucie Melahn
lmm5@cornell.edu