In
Survival of the Sickest, I found the
discussion about the aquatic ape hypothesis to be extremely interesting. The hypothesis is strongly supported by
Elaine Morgan, a writer who became interested in evolution and in particular
reproduction. Traditionally, the idea is
that humans evolved from a chimpanzee or ape that moved from the forest to the
plains. Because of the change in their
environment, they had to learn to walk upright to obtain food, and over time
evolve in humans. However, Morgan
presents another theory that is supported by research conducted by marine
biologist Alister Hardy. The aquatic ape hypothesis states that our distant
ancestors spent a majority of time near water.
The ability to spend time on land or in water gave them protection from
land animals (cheetahs) or water animals (crocodiles). As a result, these apes would evolve towards
bipedalism since “standing upright allowed them to venture into deeper water
and still breathe, and the water helped to support their upper bodies, making
it easier for their bodies to support them on two feet” (199). This lifestyle near water also helps to
explain why humans lost their fur, and developed downward-facing nostrils. I never heard of this hypothesis before and
was shocked when I read about it. For
me, it seems pretty convincing, and I would love to learn more about this
theory.
Moalem
goes on to relate this theory to childbirths today. He writes, “Childbirth in humans is riskier,
is longer, and certainly seems more painful than it is in any of our genetic
cousins” (194). These complications are
due to large skulls and narrow birth canals.
But if we take into consideration that we may have possibly evolved from
an animal that had a similar structure to us who lived near water and who most
likely gave birth in water, then maybe it would be beneficial to us today to
give birth in water. I would this
connection to be very interesting. After
looking up more about waterbirths, I found that several celebrities have chosen
this for their own labors, including Gisele Bundchen!
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/waterbirth.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/gisele-bundchen-makes-water-births-sexy-delivering-son/story?id=9721599#.T0wAAWAlboA
http://celebritybabyscoop.com/2011/06/08/celebrity-home-births
I found it pretty interesting too. Having first heard about Elaine Morgan from a TED talk (http://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_says_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes.html), I was familiar with her argument, but I was not familiar with the idea that water births facilitated human births. It’s frequently stated that humans have complications in births because of our rather large heads, but I have always likened this to bull dogs who can’t really give birth without help (of course English bull dogs can’t even reproduce without human aid, but I digress). I’ve never heard that humans had evolved to give birth in water, I had always believed it was just another fad and that it probably lacked merit.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I find Elaine Morgan to be very inspiring given that she lacks any formal education in biology. It just goes to show how important it is to have ideas looked at from different perspectives rather than from one myopic view. I’m interested to know how her ideas are perceived in the scientific community though given that she lacks the credentials.