Article in Human Evolution – an international Journal

In the aftermath of the conference Human Evolution Past, Present & Future – Anthropological, Medical & Nutritional Considerations in 2013 the journal Human Evolution – an International Journal decided that they would bring out a special issue on the Aquatic ape hypothesis. I and professor Erika Schagatay submitted an article titled A Living Based on Breath-Hold Diving in the Bajau Laut, where we present new dive data that has been measured during 2013.

The conclusion of our paper is that there is potential in man to live a life on subsistence diving, which is possible thanks to the strong human diving response and good swimming ability. The important thing for subsistence divers are not to stay as long as possible in the water on any given dive, but to maximize the bottom time during a longer time of diving.

Man’s ability to live from and in water is drastically different from our closest relatives, such as chimpanzees and gorillas. However, several human characteristics such as absence of body hair, a strong diving response and a large spleen are also present in marine mammals such as dolphins and whales. It is also important to keep in mind that all aquatic mammals previously lived on land. The idea that ealso humans have spent a long time close to water during her evolution is not too far-fetched after all.

You can read the full article here: A Living Based on Breath-Hold diving in the Bajau Laut Diving.