1) There's 0 doubt that Pleistocene archaic Homo was semi-aquatic: we have at least 8 *independent* indications:
• Archaic Homo's atypical tooth-wear was caused by "sand and oral processing of marine mollusks", Towle cs 2022 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.24500
• H.erectus s.s. fossilized typically (always?) in coastal sediments, e.g. Mojokerto amid barnacles & corals, Trinil amid Pseudodon & Elongaria, Sangiran-17 in "brackish marsh near the coast".
• Stephen Munro's sea-shell engravings made by H.erectus, Joordens cs 2015 Nature 518:228–231 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25470048/
• Ear exostoses (H.erectus & H.neand.) develop after years of cold(er) water irrigation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696936/
• Pachyosteosclerosis is typically & exclusively seen in slow+shallow-diving tetrapods (de Buffrénil cs 2010 J.Mamm.Evol.17:101-120), e.g. erectus’ parietal bone is 2x as thick as in gorillas.
• Brain size in erectus (2x apes-australopiths) is facilitated by sea-food, e.g. DHA docosahexaenoic acid in shellfish etc., e.g. Odontocetes, Pinnipedia.
• Pleistocene Homo even colonized overseas islands (Flores & later even Luzon) https://www.academia.edu/36193382/Coastal_Dispersal_of_Pleistocene_Homo_2018
• Homo’s stone tool use & dexterity is typical for molluscivores, cf. sea-otters etc.

2) There's also no doubt that Mio-Pliocene Hominoidea were already "bipedal" = aquarboreal = regular vertical wading-climbing-hanging in swamp forests
https://www.gondwanatalks.com/l/the-waterside-hypothesis-wading-led-to-upright-walking-in-early-humans/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534702024904

3) I have no doubt: afarensis->boisei = fossil Gorilla // africanus->robustus = fossil Pan (but rarely get support & even less opposition to this).
https://www.academia.edu/8732353/Marc_Verhaegens_papers_in_Human_Evolution

4) I have no doubt (my 2022 book p.299) that plate tectonics played an essential role in hominoid splittings, but how exactly? e.g.
• India approaching Eurasia: OWM/ape (some Catarrhini reaching these islands became Hominoidea),
• India under Eurasia: lesser/gr.ape (E/W),
• Mesopotamian Seaway closure: hominids/pongids (W/E), https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45308-7 + comments
• Red Sea fm, colonized by HPG,
• N-Rift fm, colonized by Gorilla-Praeanthropus: Lucy etc.,
• Red Sea opening into Gulf: Homo->S.Asia, Pan->E.Africa,
• S-Rift fm, colonized by Pan-Australopithecus: Taung etc.

5) More speculative: island evolution = drastic innovations? esp.
- India approaching S-Eurasia: island archipel fm:
(some?) Catarrhini reaching these islands + coastal forests underwent drastic changes vs "monkeys":
larger body & brain, very broad body=pelvis/thorax/esp.sternum + lateral scapulas = lateral leg & arm (+upward) movements, centrally-placed spine (vs dorsally- in most mammals), tail loss...
- "Sunda hypothesis": some hominoids in evolved into Homo s.s. = shellfish-diving = "aq.ape" s.s.??

All this is scientifically clear, yet there are still some self-declared "paleo-anthropologists" who believe their ancestors ran after antelopes over Afr.savannas... :-DDD

Op woensdag 2 augustus 2023 om 12:02:17 UTC+2 schreef littor...@gmail.com:

> 1) There's 0 doubt that Pleistocene archaic Homo was semi-aquatic: we have at least 8 *independent* indications:
> • Archaic Homo's atypical tooth-wear was caused by "sand and oral processing of marine mollusks", Towle cs 2022 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.24500
> • H.erectus s.s. fossilized typically (always?) in coastal sediments, e.g. Mojokerto amid barnacles & corals, Trinil amid Pseudodon & Elongaria, Sangiran-17 in "brackish marsh near the coast".
> • Stephen Munro's sea-shell engravings made by H.erectus https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25470048/
> • Ear exostoses (H.erectus & H.neand.) develop after years of cold(er) water irrigation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696936/
> • Pachyosteosclerosis is typically & exclusively seen in slow+shallow-diving tetrapods (de Buffrénil cs 2010 J.Mamm.Evol.17:101-120), e..g. erectus’ parietal bone is 2x as thick as in gorillas.
> • Brain size in erectus (2x apes-australopiths) is facilitated by sea-food, e.g. DHA in shellfish etc., e.g. Odontocetes, Pinnipedia.
> • Pleistocene Homo even colonized overseas islands (Flores & later even Luzon) https://www.academia.edu/36193382/Coastal_Dispersal_of_Pleistocene_Homo_2018
> • Homo’s stone tool use & dexterity is typical for molluscivores, cf. sea-otters etc.

> 2) There's also no doubt that Mio-Pliocene Hominoidea were already "bipedal" = aquarboreal = regular vertical wading-climbing-hanging in swamp forests
> https://www.gondwanatalks.com/l/the-waterside-hypothesis-wading-led-to-upright-walking-in-early-humans/
> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534702024904

> 3) I have no doubt: afarensis->boisei = fossil Gorilla // africanus->robustus = fossil Pan (but rarely get support & even less opposition to this).
> https://www.academia.edu/8732353/Marc_Verhaegens_papers_in_Human_Evolution

> 4) I have no doubt (my 2022 book p.299) that plate tectonics played an essential role in hominoid splittings, but how exactly? e.g.
> • India approaching Eurasia: OWM/ape (some Catarrhini reaching these islands became Hominoidea),
> • India under Eurasia: lesser/gr.ape (E/W),
> • Mesopotamian Seaway closure: hominids/pongids (W/E), https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-45308-7 + comments
> • Red Sea fm, colonized by HPG,
> • N-Rift fm, colonized by Gorilla-Praeanthropus: Lucy etc.,
> • Red Sea opening into Gulf: Homo->S.Asia, Pan->E.Africa,
> • S-Rift fm, colonized by Pan-Australopithecus: Taung etc.

> 5) More speculative: island evolution = drastic innovations? esp.
> - India approaching S-Eurasia: island archipel fm:
> (some?) Catarrhini reaching these islands + coastal forests underwent drastic changes vs "monkeys":
> larger body & brain, very broad body=pelvis/thorax/esp.sternum + lateral scapulas = lateral leg & arm (+upward) movements, centrally-placed spine (vs dorsally- in most mammals), tail loss...
> - "Sunda hypothesis": some hominoids in evolved into Homo s.s. = shellfish-diving = "aq.ape" s.s.??

Sorry, mistake: should be: hominoids have more "*dorsal* scapulas", not "lateral", of course, as everybody has noticed, no doubt... :-)
most mammals have a narrow thorax + lateral scapulas: for running = moving forelimbs in antero-posterior direction, not laterally,
but Hominoidea have a broad thorax = dorsally-placed scapulas + arm movements more lateral & even upward: climb, hang, swim...
(apes-apiths have a more conical thorax = aquarboreal, Homo has a more barrel-like thorax + swim-dive).