2014/03/01 by Todd C. Rae, Thomas Koppe · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Mainstream #Environmental ethics #Media studies #History #Popular media #Blogosphere #Sociology #Political science #Law #The Internet #Philosophy #Computer science
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/evan.21408
openalex publication_date 2014/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The idea that people went through an aquatic phase at some time in their evolutionary past is currently undergoing a popular resurgence (see Foley & Lahr). This idea has even started to gain some traction in more learned circles; the late paleoanthropologist Phillip Tobias wrote in support of aspects of it in an edited e-book and a conference on the topic held recently in London was endorsed by celebrities such as the television presenter Sir David Attenborough. Despite (or perhaps because of) the lack of interest within the academic community, advocates of the concept continue to fill the media (and blogosphere) with challenges to the "savannah hypothesis" of the origins of people and to bemoan the fact that their views are not taken seriously by mainstream academia.