Op zaterdag 28 mei 2022 om 04:35:45 UTC+2 schreef I Envy JTEM:
Why didn't apiths remain aquarboreal?
Maybe they never were? Maybe they are the inland variant?
Yes, probably they're the inland variant of hominid populations in coastal forests around the Ind.Ocean.
Nevertheless, gracile apiths (Pliocene) are typically found in swamp forests, and robust apiths (eaerly-Pleistocene) in wetlands.
But I meant: why didn't apes (who had apith-like ancestors) remain aquarboreal? Because the Mio-Pliocene coastal/swamp forests have disappeared? ice ages??
Is coastal fossilization less likely than inland fossilization?
Detailed comparisons show:
E.Afr.apiths (afarensis, boisei) were fossil relatives of Gorilla, and S.Afr.apiths (africanus, robustus) of Pan,
IOW, E & S.Afr.apiths evolved in parallel from late-Pliocene "gracile" (afarensis//africanus) to early-Pleistocene "robust (boisei//robustus).
Graciles as well as robusts lived in very specific milieus, but which exactly? for graciles, google "bonobo wading" & "gorilla bai"??
Maybe
they're the population which wandered inland and started adapting
to the terrestrial environment.
A lot of these populations had to be exactly that: Not aquatic by
the inland descendants of aquatic populations.
Yes, we don't know much about Pliocene Homo, but Pleistocene Homo was littoral. Schematically IMO:
-early-Pleist.H.erectus: extreme POS, large brain, small paranasal sinuses: frequent shallow-diving + back-floating,
-mid-Pleist.H.neand.: less POS, extreme CC (DHA etc.?), very large PNSs: they (seasonally?) followed the rivers inland, diving-wading,
-late-Pleist.H.sapiens: no POS, less large CC, less large PNSs: wading + walking on land.
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