Initial Bipedalism

Initial Bipedalism is a pseudoscientific theory which suggests that the first mammals were originally aquatic bipeds. The theory is routed in Cryptozoology. The theory is based on a radical concept which most scientists do not accept.
According to the theory of Initial bipedalism, bipedalism remained in the human lineage, whereas other mammals, including monkeys and apes, have developed a mode of quadrupedal locomotion. Initial Bidpedalism claims the ancestor of all mammals were all biped in the past and bound to a marine environment. The evidence cited for this is based on an interpretation of embryology, anatomy and cryptozoological research. Initial bipedalism claims that the common ancestor of all species was a biped, linked to an aquatic habitat.
History
The theory of Initial bipedalism was first formulated in the 1920s by German anatomy professor Dr Max Westenhöfer, as well as later independently by the Belgian zoologist Serge Frechkop. The theory was further developed by the Belgian-French zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans in the 1950s, here the theory was mixed with cryptozoology. Bernard Heuvelmans's book On the Track of Unknown Animals discusses the theory in detail. The cryptozoologist Ivan T. Sanderson also discussed the theory in his bigfoot book Abominable Snowman, Legend come to Life Charles Fort also mentioned the theory.
The theory was also pursued in the 1980s by the French-German ichthyologist François de Sarre, who added his hypothesis of what he calls the "Marine homonculus", as a common ancestor to all vertebrates, which originally lived in the oceans. His hypothesis is that as a jellyfish, the ancestral creature swam in a vertical position. He claims "Natatory paddles" developed and were never used for locomotion on ground, thus according to De Sarre the human hand with five fingers has remained primitive as in early vertebrates.
At the root of the Initial bipedalism theory it is based on the work of Westenhöfer's who claimed that mammals had their roots in amphibious quadrupeds and humans are the most primitive of all the primates, he further explains that that apes are descended from human-like forms or "prototypes", and that the unusual features of the human body evolved for an aquatic life.
The theory of Initial bipedalism has very little in common with the aquatic ape idea and should not be confused with that theory. De Sarre the main proponent of the theory of Initial bipdalism has denounced the aquatic ape hypothesis.
Common ancestor
Initial bipedalism holds an extreme position on the identity of a the common ancestor which is considered a "prototype" of both animals and humans. According to this theory, not only do humans owe their anatomy to a direct aquatic ancestry, but so do all mammals and all tetrapods. All vertebrates evolved from aquatic bipedal human-like ancestor. The ancestor is called 'Marine homonculus'. De Sarre in a number of his publications has reconstructed what he calls the "Marine homonculus" the aquatic ancestor to all living species today, it is depicted as a floating bipedal embryo with a large brain which floats on the surface of the oceans, like a jellyfish, this organization was swimming upright according to De Sarre.
Initial bipedalism holds that the genus Homo originated from a lineage that came up from the ocean in remote times. According to this theory Humans are among the vertebrates, and are the least removed from the ancient prototype, both morphologically and anatomically. The theory claims that man preserved the original orthograde body position of his lineage. According to the theory a bipedal, former aquatic form which they call a "prototype" was not only man’s ancestor, but also the ancestor of all the today living including all species alive and extinct which includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and all of the water vertebrates.
Cryptozoology
According to Initial bipedalism, the alleged series of our ancestors : Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, Homo erectus, etc, do not represent archaic human lineages evolving from a simian ancestry, but specialized lineages, whereas Homo sapiens has remained unspecialized. This lead to the study of cryptozoology, which studies certain legends and eyewitnesses’ reports on hidden hominid species. Proponents of the Initial bipedalism theory point to witness reports such as those of Bigfoot and other hominid cryptids as evidence for their theory.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu