Recent evidence supports the aquatic ape theory of human evolution
The aquatic ape theory remains widely dismissed by mainstream paleoanthropology as lacking empirical support, with standard evolutionary frameworks favoring terrestrial and arboreal adaptations instead.
The claim states that recent evidence supports the aquatic ape theory. The retrieved papers do not provide empirical backing for an aquatic phase in human evolution; instead, papers discussing the hypothesis frame it as being outside orthodox science, while all other relevant papers focus on terrestrial bipedalism, savannah or arboreal origins, encephalization, and meat consumption as drivers of human evolution. Therefore, the evidence does not support the claim.
Robert Foley, Marta Mirazón Lahr. The role of “the aquatic” in human evolution: Constraining the aquatic ape hypothesis. 2014. https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.21405
Paper 5 discusses the aquatic ape hypothesis as existing completely outside mainstream, orthodox scientific research into human evolution.
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Henry Pihlström. Not from the apes? Björn Kurtén's views on human evolution. 2024. https://doi.org/10.5735/086.061.0109
Paper 8 notes that even historical fringe proponents of alternative theories eventually abandoned or acknowledged the lack of mainstream acceptance for such hypotheses.
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