Re: Initial bipedalism

Pat Dooley (patdooley@aol.com)
5 Jul 1995 09:42:02 -0400

In reply to Elain Morgan, Nicholls writes:

>Now let us compare our scenerios here:

>Yours:

>Trees -------------> Water ---------------> Savannah

>Mine:

>Trees ------------> Trees/Savannah --------> Savannah

>My scenerio has the advantage of being more parsimonious than yours.
>Unfortunately for you there is not "suntan" in evidence.

>=======================================================

Yours is only more parsimonious than Elaine's if it also explains:

1. Hairlessness
2. Subcutaneous fat
3. Sweating
4. Conscious control over breathing
5. Enhanced diving reflex
6. Ability to dive to considerable depths
7. Salt tears
8. Poor ability to control salt levels
9. The much more radical evolution of humans compared to chimpanzees,
bonobos and gorillas.
10. Babies more adept at swimming than walking.
11. Odd aspects of human sexual dimorphism.
12. Loss of almost all apocrine galnds
13. Lack of any terrestrial mammals possesing a similar set of such
adaptations.

etc. etc.

Chin, chin,

Pat Dooley