User talk:Chris55/AAH2

Please discuss issues relating solely to this redrafting process on this page

Outline
I've put a proposed outline in place with a few extra topic headings. It's certainly not complete but if you want to make major changes please discuss them here first. I think it's important to separate the proposals by Hardy and Morgan from current waterside research though clearly it's been an inspiration for much of it. Whether the third section will eventually graduate to become a separate article remains to be seen. Chris55 (talk) 08:30, 29 October 2016 (UTC)


 * I like the outline, it is a logical progresion and covers all the relevant angles. A useful framework. Urselius (talk) 19:37, 29 October 2016 (UTC) A starting point for the 'wrinkly-fingers in water evidence' can be seen here:
 * http://www.nature.com/news/science-gets-a-grip-on-wrinkly-fingers-1.12175


 * Thanks for the reference, but I do think we need to keep the article focussed on evidence that points clearly to a past aquatic environment. The nature article talks only about a side effect of smooth skin and water. It may distinguish us from apes but I can't see that it would convince scientists about anything that happened in the past. Chris55 (talk) 10:18, 30 October 2016 (UTC)


 * There is also the 'surfer's ear' evidence. I have no references for it, but it was in the Attenborough radio programme. Apparently, people who spend a great deal of time in water, like surfers and scuba-divers, develop a bony process in the ear canal. It seems to be a response to regular immersion - presumably to sudden pressure changes or cold water. It has been found in the skulls of some extinct homini(d/n)s, Neanderthals amongst them, I think. Urselius (talk) 08:59, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
 * Agreed: I have it down among "Other evidence". There's one reference in the existing article (homo erectus) but I'd certainly like more. Did you look at the transcript that Algis and I put on the web? It should be very useful. Chris55 (talk)

It is now looking very good, well done indeed! My only slight quibble is about the sexual evidence. Bonobos fairly frequently engage in ventral/ventral coitus (they apparently use gesture to indicate preference!) and, presumably, the size and shape of the human penis (very different to the remarkably small gorilla or the narrow chimpanzee penis) has evolved to increase the likelihood of female orgasm. Urselius (talk) 13:23, 20 January 2017 (UTC)