Olympian Michael Phelps and the aquatic ape hypothesis

According to Wikipedia (abridged)
“The aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH) is the idea that the ancestors of modern humans were more aquatic. The hypothesis in its present form was proposed in 1960 by Alister Hardy. Though ignored or derided by the majority of workers, a few suggest in the last five million years humans became dependent on essential fatty acids and iodine, which are found in abundance in sea resources. Efficient function of the human brain requires these nutrients. The “aquatic ape” proposal is more popular with the lay public than with scientists.”

We don’t have the nasal bones
for Ardipithecus. So it is possible that they were not flat, but arched, as in humans. And in humans, the ventral opening of the nostrils prevents water from entering the air passage whenever underwater.

Hardy argued aquatic adaptations in humans include:

1. lack of body hair
2. subcutaneous fat (but captive apes have levels similar to humans.
3. location of the trachea in the throat rather than the nasal cavity
4. the human propensity for front-facing copulation
5. tears and eccrine sweating
6. bipedalism as an aid to wading
7. tool use evolved out of the use of rocks to crack open shellfish
8. selection for wading, swimming and diving in procurement of aquatic food distinct from the jungle niche leading to chimps.

So what does Olympian Michael Phillips have to do with Ardipithecus?

1. Both have a wider ‘wingspan’ than height.
2. Both have a long trunk and relatively short legs.

Admittedly,
this is just ‘cocktail-chatter,’ and will probably always be ‘cocktail-chatter.’

The addition of the five primates, Indri, Aegyptopithecus, Pan, Gorilla and Ardipithecus to the large reptile tree (LRT, 1172 taxa, subset Fig. 2) recovers nothing controversial and does not change the LRT topology of the primates.

References
Hardy A 1960. Was Man More Aquatic in the Past? New Scientist 7(174):642–645.

wiki/Aquatic_ape_hypothesis