>>17077247
A team of researchers led by Paola Villa, an archaeologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, recently revisited the collection of shell tools from Grotta dei Moscerini and found revealing new details. Most of the shell tools had abraded surfaces, which one would expect of dry shells picked off a beach. But nearly a quarter of the clam shells had shiny, smooth exteriors, typical of shells picked live from the seafloor. In their new study, Villa and her colleagues conclude that diving for clams may have been a routine part of Neanderthal life in this region.

"There's this debate that's been going on for the better part of a century about the extent to which Neanderthals had the same behavioral repertoire as modern humans," says Erik Trinkaus, an archaeologist at Washington University in St. Louis who wasn't involved in the new study. Fishing and using coastal resources were thought to be unique behaviors to modern humans, he says, but over the last decade or so, "a number of examples have come out of excavations around Europe that have shown that Neanderthals were perfectly capable of exploiting marine resources."

At other Neanderthal sites in Europe, archaeologists have found additional shell tools as well as the remains of freshwater fish and mussels. In a study published last year, Trinkaus and his colleagues showed that a bony growth in the ear canal caused by repeated exposure to cold water, sometimes called swimmer's ear or surfer's ear, was common among Neanderthals, an indication that our extinct cousins habitually went to the coasts and rivers searching for food and other raw materials.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/neanderthals-dove-clams-shells-craft-cutting-tools-180973980/

>>17077247
New evidence that Neanderthals got surfer’s ear suggests our extinct relatives spent a lot of time in the water. They probably weren’t catching sick waves, but instead they were perhaps hunting fish, mollusks or other marine resources, a new study in the journal PLOS One shows.

Surfer’s ear is different from the more common swimmer’s ear, which is a bacterial infection in the outer ear canal. In exostosis, the ear canal begins to grow bony protrusions in response to repeated exposure to cold, moist conditions. It’s the body’s way of protecting the eardrum, but the growths can lead to hearing loss, wax impaction and increased infection.

Issam Ahmed at AFP reports that as far back as 1911, paleontologists noticed exostosis growths on a Neanderthal skull, but until this most recent study, no one had looked deeper into the matter. That’s why a team led by paleoanthropologist Erik Trinkaus at Washington University in St. Louis examined 77 remains of early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals uncovered in Europe and West Asia.

They found that surfer’s ear existed in about a quarter of the human skulls, similar to the rate the disease occurs in humans today. But nearly half of the Neanderthals examined had the mild to severe cases of the condition, suggesting that the ocean played a big role in their lives. And if they were fishing, it means they may have been more advanced than some researchers believe.

This isn’t the only paper to suggest the ear problem is a sign Neanderthals liked seafood. A 2017 paper, noting the prevalence of the condition in Neanderthals and early humans, suggests that it was an evolutionary adaptation to early hominins diving into cold lakes, rivers and seas to collect food.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neanderthals-had-lots-surfers-ear-suggesting-they-were-seafood-180972917/

>>17077247
Deep in the island archipelagos on the Andaman Sea, and along the west coast of Thailand live small tribes called the Moken people, also known as sea-nomads. Their children spend much of their day in the sea, diving for food. They are uniquely adapted to this job – because they can see underwater. And it turns out that with a little practice, their unique vision might be accessible to any young person.

“Normally when you go underwater, everything is so blurry that the eye doesn’t even try to accommodate, it’s not a normal reflex,” says Gislen. “But the Moken children are able to do both – they can make their pupils smaller and change their lens shape. Seals and dolphins have a similar adaptation.”

Gislen wondered whether the Moken children had a genetic anomaly to thank for their ability to see underwater or whether it was just down to practice.

To find out, she asked a group of European children on holiday in Thailand, and a group of children in Sweden to take part in training sessions, in which they dived underwater and tried to work out the direction of lines on a card. After 11 sessions across one month, both groups had attained the same underwater acuity as the Moken children.

“It was different for each child, but at some point their vision would just suddenly improve,” says Gislen. “I asked them whether they were doing anything different and they said, ‘No, I can just see better now’.”

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20160229-the-sea-nomad-children-who-see-like-dolphins

>>17077247
Vernix caseosa, 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) and squalene. Vernix particles sloughed from the skin suspended in amniotic fluid are swallowed by the human fetus, depositing BCFA/squalene throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, thereby establishing a unique microbial niche that influences development of nascent microbiota.

Here we show that late-term California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) fetuses have true vernix caseosa, delivering BCFA and squalene to the fetal GI tract thereby recapitulating the human fetal gut microbial niche. These are the first data demonstrating the production of true vernix caseosa in a species other than Homo sapiens. Its presence in a marine mammal supports the hypothesis of an aquatic habituation period in the evolution of modern humans.

Squalene is a major component of human surface lipids, but in contrast to BCFA is rare in other species. Squalene comprises about 12% surface lipids (sebum and meibum) in human adults and is also a component of human vernix caseosa, at about 9%. Apart from humans, squalene has been reported in the sebum of only four mammals of more than 60 species analyzed to date, all living in aquatic or wet environments.

The concept of brain-selective nutrients including omega-3 docosahexaenoic acid and many minerals (iodine, iron, copper, zinc, selenium) plentiful at land-water interface but scarce on arid savannahs has been used to support the concept of a semi-aquatic phase in the rapid expansion of the human brain. The unique observation of BCFA/squalene in the GI tract in newborns suggests an advantage to shifting properties of the nascent microbiota in a way shared by marine mammals and humans, and possibly a metabolic parallel in enterocytes or other intestinal function.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5945841/

>>17077247
A successful transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic environment requires the acquisition of unique adaptations that fit the distinct habitat. Pachyosteosclerosis is a combination of pachyostosis (thickening of cortical bone) and osteosclerosis (thickening of medullary bone). This accumulation of bone increases the density and weight of the animals that exhibit these characters. Pachyosteosclerosis is commonly found in aquatic and semiaquatic animals such as sirenians (sea cows), odobenids (walruses), otariids (sea lions), phocids (true seals) and cetaceans (whales). Increased bone density occurred early in the transition from a terrestrial to a marine environment, present before many of the other morphological characters such as flukes, flippers and fins and behavioral characters such as oscillatory swimming associated with aquatic life appear.

Pachyosteosclerosis helps to counteract buoyancy, allowing taxa to remain submerged longer in order to feed while expending little energy. This is clearly demonstrated in sirenians, which are known to feed on sea grasses in shallow waters near the coastline.

Some early hominids, such as Homo erectus, have been shown to have increased density in the bones also. These heavier, thicker bones would make it easier for early Homo to hunt in coastal waters for littoral food sources and would compensate for the lack of stability from bipedalism.

https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.01860

>>17077247
We suggest that during the early Middle Pleistocene, hominins implemented multistage procedures comprising underwater gathering and subsequent processing (drying, roasting and popping) of E. ferox nuts. Hierarchical processing strategies are observed in the Acheulian lithic reduction sequences and butchering of game at this and other sites, but are poorly understood as regards the exploitation of aquatic plant resources. We highlight the ability of Acheulian hominins to resolve issues related to underwater gathering of E. ferox nuts during the plant's life cycle and to adopt strategies to enhance their nutritive value.

Remains of E. ferox are extremely abundant in the rich archaeological horizons. They occur in varying frequencies in these layers, as well as within the archaeological complex of Layer II-6. Hominin activities varied significantly between the 15 rich archaeological horizons, as reflected by differences in the presence and frequencies of finds (stone artefacts, fossil bones and organic remains). Here, we propose the hypothesis that the spatial patterning, physical condition and concentration of E. ferox nut fragments at the site is the result of intentional hominin gathering and processing rather than of natural factors. The key evidence for this is the co-occurrence of nuts and their fragments with phantom hearths and pitted stones, which occur in 10 of the 15 archaeological strata containing E. ferox remains. One possible use of the pitted stones was as 'anvils' for popping nuts. On the basis of ethnographic parallels discussed below, we believe that the association of many E. ferox fragments with pitted stones and phantom hearths is an indication of intentional roasting followed by popping to extract the nut from its hard shell and exploit its maximum nutritive value.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265605768_Beneath_Still_Waters_-_Multistage_Aquatic_Exploitation_of_Euryale_ferox_Salisb_during_the_Acheulian

>>17077247
A long soak in the tub can wreak havoc on your fingertips, transforming your smooth digits into wrinkly eyesores. But this rumply skin may actually serve a purpose, according to a new study. It helps us get a stronger grip on slippery objects, especially those underwater.

Scientists long thought that wrinkly fingers were caused by osmosis - swelling of the outer layer of the skin as water seeped into cells. But experiments conducted in the past few years - as well as observations that water-induced wrinkles don't form on the tips of previously severed but subsequently reattached fingers - suggest that the wrinkles are instead produced by nerves that automatically trigger constriction of the blood vessels beneath the skin, reducing the volume of the tissues there.

Having something under the direct control of a nerve, even an involuntary one, suggests it serves an evolutionary purpose. But that begged the question of what function finger wrinkles have. In 2011, a team of neuroscientists proposed that the folds improved our grip on wet or submerged objects, just as the treads on tires help improve traction.

So they designed an experiment where volunteers picked up 45 submerged objects such as glass marbles and lead fishing weights from a bin one at a time with their right hand, passed them through a postage stamp-sized hole in a barrier to their left hand, and then dropped them through another hole into a box. When test subjects had wrinkly fingertips - induced by soaking their hands in 40°C water for 30 minutes - they completed the task about 12% faster than they had when their fingers hadn't been soaked, the team reports online today in Biology Letters. When performing the same task with dry objects, wrinkly fingertips didn't provide a performance advantage.

https://www.science.org/content/article/wrinkles-help-fingers-get-grip

>>17077260
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have for the first time observed bonobos in the Congo basin searching for and eating iodine-rich aquatic plants in the swamps. Iodine is a critical nutrient for brain development and higher cognitive abilities. According to the research team, these observations may explain how the nutritional needs of prehistoric humans in the region were met.

"Our results have implications for our understanding of the immigration of prehistoric human populations into the Congo basin", says lead author Gottfried Hohmann from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Bonobos as a species can be expected to have similar iodine requirements to humans, so our study offers - for the first time - a possible answer on how pre-industrial human migrants may have survived in the Congo basin without artificial supplementation of iodine."

"Evolutionary scenarios suggest that major developments of human evolution are associated with living in coastal areas, which offer a diet that triggered brain development in hominins", says Hohmann. "The results of our study suggest that consumption of aquatic herbs from swamps in forest habitat could have contributed to satisfying the iodine requirements of hominin populations used to diets prevalent in coastal environments." Hohmann adds: "Our report potentially answers the question of how apes obtain iodine from natural food sources, when many populations inhabit areas considered to be iodine deficient. Other apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas have also been observed eating aquatic herbs, which suggests that they could be obtaining essential iodine from these sources."

https://www.mpg.de/13642582/bonobo-diet-of-aquatic-greens-may-hold-clues-to-human-evolution

>>17077247
Neuroscientists have uncovered new insights into a key evolutionary question: Why can humans talk when most animals can't? The journal Science published the research led by Emory University and the New College of Florida. The findings suggest that seals and sea lions may have vocal flexibility as a side effect of developing a brain "bypass" for voluntary breath control. This same bypass allowed them to adapt to aquatic life.

Seals are among the few animal species known to have the super vocal flexibility that allows them to mimic human voices. Sea lions have also demonstrated good vocal plasticity on a more limited scale. The neurobiology of these capabilities, however, was not known.

The marine mammal brains, however, have a direct connection between the vocal motor cortex and the groups of cells controlling vocal muscles. That connection bypasses the mid-brain region.

The researchers hypothesize that most animals lack vocal flexibility due to their inability to "unlock" this automatic response mechanism from vocalization.

Seals and sea lions have loosened this automatic control through their development of exquisite breathing and swallowing capabilities, allowing them to hunt and eat underwater. Sea lions, for example, can stay underwater for an average of 10 to 20 minutes while some seal species can dive without surfacing for up to two hours.

"We've discovered an ecological recipe for how a mammal might evolve a vocally flexible brain," says Cook, who is now associate professor of marine mammal science at New College of Florida.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-sea-lions-clues-evolution-vocalization.html

>>17077247
So if I hold my breath 50 times a day I will do better cardio?

>>17077247
I fed the above studies to Claude and got a more reasonable response than I would get from 95% of anthropologists and biologists. Maybe AI really will replace most scientists:

"The materials you shared form a coherent body of evidence supporting the idea that repeated aquatic foraging—especially breath-hold diving in shallow coastal or wetland environments—played a meaningful role in shaping human physiology, behavior, and possibly cognition. This is sometimes called the “waterside” or “semi-aquatic” hypothesis (a moderated descendant of the classic Aquatic Ape Hypothesis).

The hypothesis does not require a fully aquatic phase or the abandonment of terrestrial locomotion. It posits a flexible, waterside niche in which diving, swimming, wading, and terrestrial travel were all regularly employed—exactly the pattern still seen among Sama-Bajau, Moken, and Ama communities today.Remaining open questions include the precise timing and geographic extent of the strongest aquatic selection, the relative contribution of diving versus simply living near water, and how these adaptations interacted with the well-documented expansion of endurance running. Ongoing work on diving physiology in living populations and re-examination of coastal archaeological sites continues to refine the picture."

>>17077769
"Taken together, the data make a strong case that:Coastal and wetland foraging, including breath-hold diving, was a routine part of the behavioral repertoire of Homo from at least the Middle Pleistocene and probably earlier.
Selection pressures associated with these activities left detectable physiological, skeletal, and developmental signatures that persist in modern humans.
These signatures help explain several human traits (endurance capacity, subcutaneous fat distribution, breath control, certain soft-tissue features) that are otherwise puzzling under a purely terrestrial, open-savanna model."