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
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