An old theory (or hypothesis would probably be a better word) that has hovered at the edges of evolutionary theory for decades is the 'aquatic ape' theory. The idea is that the hominid line that led to Homo sapiens went through a stage where our ancestors started to adapt to an aquatic life, at some point after the chimpanzee/human lines diverged.
The idea is a few odd traits of Mankind compared to the apes are explained by that period. It's never been widely accepted but never quite 100% discredited, either.
But suppose, for the sake of speculation, that it is true, and instead of ending it went on, continuing even as our line developed sapience and technological culture anyway. Supposing that aquatic adaptation began shortly after the chimp/protohuman divergence, and continued to the present day, what might a 'semi-aquatic alternate humanity' be like, biologically and culturally and societally? How far could it have gone in the relatively short time under consideration? What would be the most likely physical differences between our semi-aquatic alternatives and ourselves?
Obviously we're not talking about a full, complete adaptation along cetacean lines in that short a time, I'm assuming still a basically land-dwelling hominid, but one adapted to spending a lot of time in the water too.
EDIT: I meant to post this on Roleplaying In General. Mods please feel free to move it there!
The idea is a few odd traits of Mankind compared to the apes are explained by that period. It's never been widely accepted but never quite 100% discredited, either.
But suppose, for the sake of speculation, that it is true, and instead of ending it went on, continuing even as our line developed sapience and technological culture anyway. Supposing that aquatic adaptation began shortly after the chimp/protohuman divergence, and continued to the present day, what might a 'semi-aquatic alternate humanity' be like, biologically and culturally and societally? How far could it have gone in the relatively short time under consideration? What would be the most likely physical differences between our semi-aquatic alternatives and ourselves?
Obviously we're not talking about a full, complete adaptation along cetacean lines in that short a time, I'm assuming still a basically land-dwelling hominid, but one adapted to spending a lot of time in the water too.
EDIT: I meant to post this on Roleplaying In General. Mods please feel free to move it there!
Aquatic Ape (alternative descent speculations)...
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