Sea Lions Develop Human-like Vernix Caseosa Delivering Branched Fats and Squalene to the GI Tract
Dong Hao Wang ... Richard Collins & J Thomas Brenna 2018
Scient Rep 8:74-78
doi 10.1038/s41598-018-25871-1
<
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-25871-1#auth-7>
VC (the white waxy coating found on newborn human skin) is thought to be a uniquely human substance.
Its signature characteristic is exceptional richness in
- saturated branched chain fatty acids BCFA &
- squalene SQ.
VC particles sloughed from the skin suspended in amniotic fluid are
swallowed by the human fetus, depositing BCFA/SQ throughout the gastro-intestinal tract, establishing a unique microbial niche, that
influences development of nascent micro-biota.
Here we show:
late-term California sea-lion Zalophus californianus fetuses have true VC, delivering BCFA & SQ to the fetal GI tract, thereby recapitulating the
human fetal gut microbial niche.
These are the first data demonstrating the production of true VC in a
species other than Homo sapiens.
Its presence in a marine mammal supports the hypothesis of an aquatic habituation period in H.sapiens evolution.
_______
This confirms the Coastal Dispersal Model (Munro 2010).
Google e.g.
"coastal dispersal of Pleistocene Homo 2018 Verhaegen"
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