Elaine Morgan OBE, FRSL (7 November 1920 – 12 July 2013), was a Welsh writer for television and the author of several books on evolutionary anthropology, especially the aquatic ape hypothesis which she advocated as a corrective to what she saw as theories which purveyed gendered stereotypes and thus failed to adequately take account of women's role in human evolution. The Aquatic Ape Theory is being discussed over at Pharyngula. This book is an UPDATE to her 1960's book the Aquatic Ape Theory which is now sorely out-of-date, so if you're going to read it, read the 1990's version called Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. Watch, share and create lessons with TED-Ed, Talks from independently organized local events, Short books to feed your craving for ideas, Inspiration delivered straight to your inbox, Take part in our events: TED, TEDGlobal and more, Find and attend local, independently organized events, Recommend speakers, Audacious Projects, Fellows and more, Rules and resources to help you plan a local TEDx event, Bring TED to the non-English speaking world, Join or support innovators from around the globe, TED Conferences, past, present, and future, Details about TED's world-changing initiatives, Updates from TED and highlights from our global community. Perhaps best known for her book The Descent of Woman, at TEDGlobal 2009 she made her case for the “aquatic ape hypothesis” — an admittedly non-standard idea about human origins. I read about this long ago and then nothing. He... https://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_i_believe_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes He... https://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_i_believe_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes. Here, I just want to make a few remarks about it. The aquatic ape theory contrasts with the open Savannah theory marginally. Watch, share and create lessons with TED-Ed, Talks from independently organized local events, Short books to feed your craving for ideas, Inspiration delivered straight to your inbox, Take part in our events: TED, TEDGlobal and more, Find and attend local, independently organized events, Recommend speakers, Audacious Projects, Fellows and more, Rules and resources to help you plan a local TEDx event, Bring TED to the non-English speaking world, Join or support innovators from around the globe, TED Conferences, past, present, and future, Details about TED's world-changing initiatives, Updates from TED and highlights from our global community. In the Ted Talk below she shows how the Bajau nomadic history and their concept of no-border have been dismantled step by step due to governmental policies and prejudice, contributing both to a cultural and ecological crisis. Open Translation Project. The aquatic ape hypothesis, also referred to as aquatic ape theory or the waterside hypothesis of human evolution, postulates that the ancestors of modern humans took a divergent evolutionary pathway from the other great apes by becoming adapted to a more aquatic habitat. Taking a less male-centric approach to evolutionary theory, Morgan's adventure was chronicled in the 1998 BBC documentary The Aquatic Ape. Due to this, the theory has become an anomaly; it has been ignored, eliminated and stigmatized. The Aquatic Ape theory – on the other hand – picks out one of all these environments and says: “here has our evolution occurred: we have been aquatic apes”. translators. Elaine Morgan: I believe we evolved from aquatic apes, https://www.ted.com/talks/elaine_morgan_i_believe_we_evolved_from_aquatic_apes, https://www.ted.com/speakers/elaine_morgan, TED News in Brief: Remembering Elaine Morgan, the potential of a solar-powered plane, and more, https://blog.ted.com/2013/07/18/ted-news-in-brief-remembering-elaine-morgan-the-potential-of-a-solar-powered-plane-and-more, https://www.ted.com/talks/rory_bremner_a_one_man_world_summit. Criticism of the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis has not diminished in the ensuing years, but it has gained a place among the family of respectable evolutionary theories. Elaine Morgan was the featured Author of the Month at GrahamHancock.com for September 2002. Go deeper into fascinating topics with original video series from TED. See if you can catch a few sharp TED in-jokes. This aquatic l... Why do humans differ from other primates? The ancient aquatic theory - they didn't mention THIS in school. Perhaps best known for her book The Descent of Woman, at TEDGlobal 2009 she made her case for the "aquatic ape hypothesis" -- an admittedly non-standard idea about human origins. “For my money, she is more scientific than Genesis, more up-to-date than Darwin, more fun than Ardrey, and she writes better than Desmond Morris.” — John Rowan Wilson, Sunday Telegraph, 2019 is starting off big for the TED community — below, some highlights. Jim Yong Kim resigns from the World Bank. Earlier this year, in The Guardian, Erika Milam offered a compelling new take on Morgan’s place in […], It reads like everyone was inspired by the talks this week (including two more released from TEDGlobal 2009), which feature philosopher Alain de Botton on success, scientist Elaine Morgan on aquatic apes and artist/software engineer Golan Levin on his interactive art. It is the aquatic ape theory, an idea first widely publicized by marine biologist Alister Hardy in the 1930s. Listen to her spirited defense of the idea and her theory on why mainstream science doesn't take it seriously. Summary. Television writer and scientific theorist Elaine Morgan may have been known for penning the popular British TV series Dr. Finlay's Casebook, but for decades the Welsh feminist writer championed human evolutionary theories using aquatic species. All rights reserved. Original TED page w/ speaker bio, links, comments, etc: Elaine Morgan: We Evolved from Aquatic Apes Elaine Morgan's adamant support of the aquatic ape theory drew my attention to the video first, and then as I watched it I realized that I also supported this theory. Videos about Aquatic Human Ancestor Ape Theory . Mark Frauenfelder 9:41 am Wed Aug 5, 2009. Compare Jim Moore's denunciation of her with her response to it. long ago Same with me so ty for this thread. TED.com translations are made possible by volunteer This web page offers a critical Elaine Morgan was a tenacious proponent of a theory that is not widely accepted. Review/Critique of Elaine Morgan's 2009 TED Talk On 22 July 2009, Elaine Morgan gave a talk at the annual TEDGlobal conference in Oxford, UK, in a session titled "Curious and curiouser". — rorysutherland Of all the big ideas at TEDGlobal, Elaine Morgan’s radical theories on the aquatic ape evolutionary theory are most challenging yet. In an unexpected move, Jim Yong Kim announced that he will be stepping down from his position as President of the World Bank by the end of the month. The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis is the title of one of the books by Elaine Morgan, and The Aquatic Ape of another. Hardy was inspired after returning from an Antarctic expedition where he noticed the subcutaneous blubber fat layers of whales and seals and saw parallels to humans.He was also impressed by the human "exceptional ability" to swim. He... Elaine Morgan, armed with an arsenal of television writing credits and feminist credentials, spent her life on a mission to prove humans evolved in water. The hypothesis that the morphological divergence of hominids was dictated by an aquatic environment was first formulated in 1923 by the German physician Max Westenhöfer and British marine biologist Sir Alister Hardy. The aquatic ape hypothesis lays out the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. Fearing it would jeopardize his scientific career, H… The aquatic ape hypothesis lays out the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. Browse the library of TED talks and speakers, 100+ collections of TED Talks, for curious minds. Elaine Morgan was a tenacious proponent of a theory that is not widely accepted. The aquatic ape hypothesis lays out the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. These characteristics include subcutaneous fat, hairlessness and bipedalism. TED Talk: Elaine Morgan says we evolved from aquatic apes. Aquatic Ape Theory. It's garnered a lot of notice (and drove a lot of traffic to my site) so I figured I should write up a response specifically to that talk. The first time I heard this theory had to have been in the 60s and since then I have heard nothing else about the Aquatic Ape until I came across this TED talk by the very woman I believe I saw on T.V. I can see two possible future scenarios for the Aquatic Ape Theory. I … Read "Criticisms & updates" below for more details.) As PZ points out, an excellent resource on this idea is Moore's site on the topic. Lets get to the comments: On Elaine Morgan’s talk: We evolved from aquatic apes: […]. Instead of going to the plains, we went towards the water for approximately two million years. In her TED talk, Morgan details the aquatic ape theory, the belief that our primate ancestors didn’t go directly from the trees to the plains, but stopped in the oceans first. Elaine Morgan talking pure sense at #TED about paradigm shift and aquatic ape theory – and in a Welsh accent too. Read: "Elaine Morgan and the Aquatic Ape", Jim Yong Kim steps down from the World Bank and other news from the TED community, TED News in Brief: Remembering Elaine Morgan, the potential of a solar-powered plane, and more. What is the aquatic theory and what is her connection with it? Download a free copy of her last book. (NOTE: Statements in this talk have been challenged by scientists working in this field. Elaine Morgan, armed with an arsenal of television writing credits and feminist credentials, spent her life on a mission to prove humans evolved in water. According to The New York […], Writer Elaine Morgan has died at age 92. The Aquatic Ape Theory is being discussed over at Pharyngula. I'm delighted by Elaine Morgan's hypothesis that humans evolved from aquatic apes. She wrote six books about the aquatic ape theory, derived from ancient Greek philosophies about human evolution. That’s when the annual meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists were held in Chicago. Perhaps best known for her book The Descent of Woman, at TEDGlobal 2009 she made her case for the “aquatic ape hypothesis” — an admittedly non-standard idea about human origins. Elaine Morgan and her Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. It may be that these are now seen to be misleading titles, but the phrase has been accepted by the hypothesis's opponents, so it would be difficult to justify a … View her talk to TED in July 2009. © TED Conferences, LLC. The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (1997), subtitled The Most Credible Theory of Human Evolution, takes the prize for sheer chutzpah. Writer Elaine Morgan has died at age 92. Earlier this year, in The Guardian, Erika Milam offered a compelling new take on Morgan’s place in […] Continue reading Welsh evolutionary anthropologist Elaine Morgan is author of a number of books on the subject of physical anthropology, including some controversial views on our human origins. After the umpteenth friend sent me the link to Elaine Morgan’s TED Talk about the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (AAH), I finally watched it today and I thought I'd share a few things that have been on my mind since last April. As PZ points out, an excellent resource on this idea is Moore's site on the topic. Morgan died in July 2013 at age 92. Go deeper into fascinating topics with original video series from TED. Open Translation Project. Elaine Morgan is a tenacious proponent of the aquatic ape hypothesis, the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. This allegedly explains our larger primate brains, our ability to speak, walk up right, our hairless skin, bipedal movements, natural breathing abilities under water, and our superior swimming skills compared to … The aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH), sometimes referred to as the aquatic ape theory, attempts to explain some unique characteristics of humans through a period of time spent evolving in an aquatic environment. Reflection by Meighan A. — shanehegarty To laughter and applause, she encourages TED to “come on in, the water’s fine.” Morgan looks forward to a new point in science where conventional ideas about human evolution can be synthesized with the aquatic ape theory — but, for now, the “rival” theories live apart. A collection of links to sites relivant to the discussion of the Aquatic Ape Theory of Human origins, popularized by Elaine Morgan. Read the opinions of some people who believe the theory deserves a hearing. © TED Conferences, LLC. It's been promoted on the stage in a 2009 TED talk; it was the underlying theory of Animal Planet's 2011 documentary Mermaids: The Body Found; and it was even described in Desmond Morris' famous 1967 nonfiction book The Naked Ape. Learn more about the The hypothesis was initially proposed by the marine biologist Alister Hardy in 1960, who argued that a branch of apes was forced … The first and most obvious is the Aquatic Ape Theory, another theory of human evolution proposed by people without relevant expertise and which also provided answers to questions that didn't need any. … Learn more about the Writer Elaine Morgan has died at age 92. The aquatic ape theory suggests that early human ancestors lived in water at least part of the time. Earlier this year, in The Guardian, Erika Milam offered a compelling new take on Morgan's place in scientific discourse -- ... Scottish funnyman Rory Bremner convenes a historic council on the TEDGlobal stage -- as he lampoons Gordon Brown, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and a cast of other world leaders with his hilarious impressions and biting commentary. She was an award-winning television writer (she won two BAFTAs and Writers' Guild honors) for Campion, How Green Was My Valley and Testament of Youth. In a nutshell, it's a book written for the non-academic masses, so don't expect it … translators. The Aquatic Ape - Elaine Morgan - TED Talk 2009. Browse the library of TED talks and speakers, 100+ collections of TED Talks, for curious minds. The Aquatic Ape Theory (often referred to as the AAT or AAH -- I'll generally refer to it as the AAT/H on this site) Using the principle of convergent evolution, it says that life in an aquatic environment explains these features, and that a transition from ape to hominid in a non-aquatic environment cannot. All rights reserved. Suyia the orang-utan swimming underwater... (She appears to have no problem whatsoever holding her breath underwater). TED.com translations are made possible by volunteer