Re: AAT:A method to falsify
George Black (gblack@midland.co.nz)
Sun, 15 Oct 95 13:13:13 GMT
>> I am amazed at how resistent the pro-AAT-ers are toward tests for
>> falsification.
>> There is no living animal that is hairless, 100 pounds or less, with 12
>%
>> body fat that is aquatic or semi-aquatic. None. Not even in warm
>tropical
>> waters.
>>
>Implying:Therefore the hominids cannot have evolved in the water.
>
>Furthermore:
>
>There is no living animal that is hairless, 100 pounds or less, with 12%
>body fat that is non-aquatic. Therefore the hominids cannot have evolved
>on land either. They cannot have evolved at all
>
And you wonder at the reception that your AAT(tm) gets.
Does your (and the other) point include feathers fur scales :-)))
While I find your point about an Aquatic Ape interesting there are a great
number of practical problems that as a sports diver are quite evident.
The energy of the swimmer/wader/diver is compromised by the chill factor, the
workload (working against the tides, wave action, etc)
Further, lengthy periods spent in salt water can upset the metabolism through
osimosis.
As a diver I can tell you that even with the modern equipment available today
working in heavy surf or during storms is (a) dangerous (b) illadvised
Or winter with the termocline close to the surface.
Yet AAT(tm) would have had to have done this.
Even inshore bodies of water can come up rough making diving hazardous and
visibility zero.
I can, however, believe that AAT(tm) was a shore forager picking shellfish and
catching fish from tidal pools.
Why is the 'Savanah'tm theory rejected so out of hand by the AAT(tm)
Why is the 'AAT(tm) theory rejected so out of hand by the 'Savanah'(tm)
All this wonderment about where AAT(tm) would sleep at night with non grasping
feet just proves that no-one has seen the many marvellous nature films about
the great apes who make beds in the foilage of trees.
Or the colonies of apes that inhabit the rock piles that are features of the
grasslands and plains of Africa.
Another thing that I wonder at is how long would it take the individual
AAT(tm) to gather sufficient protein to support themselves and their family
group.
As a diver with all the aids of technology IMHO it would take me a certain
amount of time each day in the water. But I would be able to see what was
there and make a selection. To gear up, dive/snorkel, recover sufficient
shell/fish, return to shore and later to get dry and warm
would take at the least an hour.
Of course if AAT(tm) did not have basket making ability he/she would have had
a real problem in holding and returning his/her catch to the shore
Your AAT(tm) would be diving blind and would be gleaning blind.
However, if the two food gathering technologies were used in concert.
Hunting/scavenging, collecting nuts, berries and roots with some of the
members of the tribe/troop gleaning food from the sea such as many
coastal people do to this day it would seem more probable IMO.
And, if there were such, there should be fossilised remains of middens of
shells and bones in the areas you propose datable to prove your contention.
The content ratio of shell/fish bone to stonefruit/animal bone etc would be a
sign of this.
Regards George
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