"Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
— More Complex than Previously Thought"
Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
doi 10.1093/icb/icw120

Very interesting & extensive article + lots of illustrations & tables & refs.
It leaves no doubt that archaic Homo was a bottom-diver, collecting sessile foods, mostly shellfish? cf.

S.Munro & M.Verhaegen
2009
- "Littoral diets in early hominoids and/or early Homo?"
- "Pachyosteosclerosis suggests archaic Homo exploited sessile littoral foods"
in Xirotiris, Matala, Galanidou, Zafeiris & Papageorgopoulou eds
"Fish & Seafood – Anthropological & Nutritional Perspectives"
28th ICAF Conference Kamilari Crete abstracts

2011
- "Pachyosteosclerosis suggests archaic Homo frequently collected sessile littoral foods" J.compar.hum.Biol.62:237-247
- "Pachyosteosclerosis in archaic Homo: heavy skulls for diving, heavy legs for wading?"
p.82-105 in M.Vaneechoutte cs eds 2011 ebook Bentham Sci.Publ.
"Was Man More Aquatic in the Past? Fifty Years after Alister Hardy: Waterside Hypotheses of Human Evolution"

littor...@gmail.com wrote:
> "Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
> — More Complex than Previously Thought"
> Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
> Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
> doi 10.1093/icb/icw120
<https://watermark.silverchair.com/icw120.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAr4wggK6BgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKrMIICpwIBADCCAqAGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMeS4C-ILf6vtsQ4iYAgEQgIICcTMTN_tMsYG1TYrsBTRw1aiTBZYgix4POT4GbE6apO5J3dtpG39FJQcXh_N6YZA3AUiiup1QMXnvD_tXzRTcNRXFJjSwa-hGIVGRE7J1o3l3DUQkBtXw1ghUNgnFCVo5BMe2NoOlmHQASnNRuWuuIWVF6LbUL18HClHfqdvNX6-GZHi5P_G1BbInyY1yR60IR2ohU4TxF6yL1NkBaHWvBjKu3MjEzWiDHtCioiyLUegubhRGRfGl4N7UkMD7H_wC2RDAyV3c0bdO67m-snfdV6FqFIw27_un3I9eNSVI1wnBoNVCNm_WXT_3oJEnUG1N0cDvEwUUxggeDp9fWVIbazVqSbvJxcGpiSwEpvsFOehhWEgLOhLgcX2eBy2iUmLdb6BIfiqI7xSY0g5o1LD2g-2w7vmmTHKJmqwoKOeZZELJci3TQ1CyISH0nkd65ul0AOGH-1DWkuirWOAXugwHUahXu3Ov7kNdqtcijqUlEJATzxyYhEHVHI8YxNZR4MmhCrtLPYQ_xVJCASC_9WBDCO00C8zEQl54sg0AYZtpxIxgL4GhpjNuGzuO5Edyy1sXqhX1bfe-7m0IggCZuZudhmyEjrqSGxDfRSNuAyaDel6pYorvkHw93Lh5HDIbeXGI2_HPJS4NyWRP222I6JEnLxRCVJ3rg8-lOPej9KK7EaG3Rra05_mfbVqkcRUN0NObUBkBFVltLGGw-wY-s7vPuuPJobkmyGiF-AC-8hCgX_AW7BbhSOgMV3WcqTuehsTT16AbCGwwAsf6mQ-W9zviJdK9y5Jzf2NT-194zy3zBHewWMovdDStGTqsyVV8cp_d-Ys>
Synopsis Numerous amniote groups adapted to an aquatic life. This change
of habitat
naturally led to numerous convergences. The various adaptive traits vary
depending on
the degree of adaptation to an aquatic life, notably between shallow water
taxa still
able to occasionally locomote on land and open-marine forms totally
independent from
the terrestrial environment, but also between surface swimmers and deep
divers. As a consequence, despite convergences, there is a high diversity
within aquatic amniotes
in e.g., shape, size, physiology, swimming mode. Bone microanatomy is
considered to
be strongly associated with bone biomechanics and is thus a powerful tool to
understand bone adaptation to functional constraints and to make
functional inferences
on extinct taxa. Two opposing major microanatomical specializations have been
described in aquatic amniotes, referred to as bone mass increase and a
spongious organization, respectively. They are assumed to be essentially
linked with the hydrostatic
or hydrodynamic control of buoyancy and body trim and with swimming
abilities and velocity. However, between extremes in these
specializations, a wide range of
intermediary patterns occurs. The present study provides a
state-of-the-art review of
these inner bone adaptations in semi-aquatic and aquatic amniotes. The
analysis of the various microanatomical patterns observed in long bones,
vertebrae, and ribs of a large sample of (semi-)aquatic extant and extinct
amniotes reveals the wide diversity in microanatomical patterns and the
variation in combination of these different patterns
within a single skeleton. This enables us to discuss the link between
microanatomical features and habitat, swimming abilities, and thus
functional requirements in
the context of amniote adaptation to an aquatic lifestyle.
Not one mention of primates.
"several aquatic taxa show a strong reduction of the hind-limb"

Op woensdag 11 augustus 2021 om 06:42:11 UTC+2 schreef Primum Sapienti:
> littor...@gmail.com wrote:
> > "Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
> > — More Complex than Previously Thought"
> > Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
> > Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
> > doi 10.1093/icb/icw120

....
> on extinct taxa. Two opposing major microanatomical specializations have been
> described in aquatic amniotes, referred to as bone mass increase and a
> spongious organization, respectively. They are assumed to be essentially
> linked with the hydrostatic
> or hydrodynamic control of buoyancy and body trim and with swimming
> abilities and velocity. ...

Of course, only complete idiots believe that archaic Homo (pachyosteosclerosis & ear exostoses) ran after kudus.

S.Munro & M.Verhaegen
2009
- "Littoral diets in early hominoids and/or early Homo?"
- "Pachyosteosclerosis suggests archaic Homo exploited sessile littoral foods"
in Xirotiris, Matala, Galanidou, Zafeiris & Papageorgopoulou eds
"Fish & Seafood – Anthropological & Nutritional Perspectives"
28th ICAF Conference Kamilari Crete abstracts

2011
- "Pachyosteosclerosis suggests archaic Homo frequently collected sessile littoral foods" J.compar.hum.Biol.62:237-247
- "Pachyosteosclerosis in archaic Homo: heavy skulls for diving, heavy legs for wading?"
p.82-105 in M.Vaneechoutte cs eds 2011 ebook Bentham Sci.Publ.
"Was Man More Aquatic in the Past? Fifty Years after Alister Hardy: Waterside Hypotheses of Human Evolution"

littor...@gmail.com wrote:
> Op woensdag 11 augustus 2021 om 06:42:11 UTC+2 schreef Primum Sapienti:
>> littor...@gmail.com wrote:
>>> "Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
>>> — More Complex than Previously Thought"
>>> Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
>>> Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
>>> doi 10.1093/icb/icw120
>
> ...
>> on extinct taxa. Two opposing major microanatomical specializations have been
>> described in aquatic amniotes, referred to as bone mass increase and a
>> spongious organization, respectively. They are assumed to be essentially
>> linked with the hydrostatic
>> or hydrodynamic control of buoyancy and body trim and with swimming
>> abilities and velocity. ...
>
> Of course, only complete idiots believe that archaic Homo

had snorkel noses.

> >>> "Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
> >>> — More Complex than Previously Thought"
> >>> Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
> >>> Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
> >>> doi 10.1093/icb/icw120
> > ...
> >> on extinct taxa. Two opposing major microanatomical specializations have been
> >> described in aquatic amniotes, referred to as bone mass increase and a
> >> spongious organization, respectively. They are assumed to be essentially
> >> linked with the hydrostatic
> >> or hydrodynamic control of buoyancy and body trim and with swimming
> >> abilities and velocity. ...

> > Of course, only complete idiots believe that archaic Homo

> had snorkel noses.

OI, BIG NOSE !
New Scientist 2782 p.69
Lastword article NS 16.10.10

Why do humans evolve external noses that don’t seem to serve any useful purpose – our smelling sensors are inside the head. Our nose is vulnerable to damage, and the majority of primates and other mammals manage with relatively flat faces. Traditional explanations are that the nose protects against dry air, hot air, cold air, dusty air, whatever air, but most savannah mammals have no external noses, and polar animals such as arctic foxes or hares tend to evolve shorter extremities including flatter noses (Allen’s Rule), not larger as the Neanderthal protruding nose.

The answer isn’t so difficult if we simply consider humans like other mammals.

An external nose is seen in elephant seals, hooded seals, tapirs, elephants, swine and, among primates, in the mangrove-dwelling proboscis monkeys. Various, often mutually compatible functions, have been proposed, such as sexual display (in male hooded and elephant seals or proboscis monkeys), manipulation of food (in elephants, tapirs and swine), a snorkel (elephants, proboscis monkeys) and as a nose-closing aid during diving (in most of these animals). These mammals spend a lot of time at the margins of land and water.. Possible functions of an external nose in creatures evolving into aquatic ones are obvious and match those listed above in many cases. They can initially act as a nose closure, a snorkel, to keep water out, to dig in wet soil for food, and so on. Afterwards, these external noses can also become co-opted for other functions, such as sexual display (visual as well as auditory) in hooded and elephant seals and proboscis monkeys.

But what does this have to do with human evolution?

The earliest known Homo fossils outside Africa – such as those at Mojokerto in Java and Dmanisi in Georgia – are about 1.8 million years old. The easiest way for them to have spread to other continents, and to islands such as Java, is along the coasts, and from there inland along rivers. During the glacial periods of the Pleistocene – the ice age cycles that ran from about 1.8 million to 12,000 years ago – most coasts were about 100 metres below the present-day sea level, so we don’t know whether or when Homo populations lived there. But coasts and riversides are full of shellfish and other foods that are easily collected and digested by smart, handy and tool-using “apes”, and are rich in potential brain-boosting nutrients such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

If Pleistocene Homo spread along the coasts, beachcombing, wading and diving for seafoods as Polynesian islanders still do, this could explain why Homo erectus evolved larger brains (aided by DHA) and larger noses (because of their part-time diving). This littoral intermezzo could help to explain not only why we like to have our holidays at tropical beaches, eating shrimps and coconuts, but also why we became fat and furless bipeds with long legs, flat feet, large brains and big noses.

littor...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>
>>>>> "Adaptive Patterns in Aquatic Amniote Bone Microanatomy
>>>>> — More Complex than Previously Thought"
>>>>> Alexandra Houssaye, P Martin Sander & Nicole Klein 2016
>>>>> Integrative & Comparative Biology 56:1349-69
>>>>> doi 10.1093/icb/icw120
>>> ...
>>>> on extinct taxa. Two opposing major microanatomical specializations have been
>>>> described in aquatic amniotes, referred to as bone mass increase and a
>>>> spongious organization, respectively. They are assumed to be essentially
>>>> linked with the hydrostatic
>>>> or hydrodynamic control of buoyancy and body trim and with swimming
>>>> abilities and velocity. ...
>
>>> Of course, only complete idiots believe that archaic Homo
>
>> had snorkel noses.
>
> OI, BIG NOSE !

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/21245757_Aquatic_Ape_Theory_and_fossil_hominids
AQUATIC APE THEORY AND FOSSIL HOMINIDS
M. J. B. VERHAEGEN Medical Hypotheses 35: 108-114 (1991)

"In a Neandertal swimming on his back, the large nose with distal nostrils
and the protruding midface surrounded by large air sinuses functioned as a
snorkel."

That's the fantasy land of AA - nostrils on the end of the nose.