TOP 10 APE THEORIES & THESES OF HUMAN EVOLUTION (SPECIAL MENTION)

 

I’ve compiled my Top 10 Apes – not for my top ten species or types of apes, but for the use of the word ape as a trope, for which humans are the ape. That is, a trope used for naming theories or theses of human evolution – an idea for a top ten which struck me when I realized just how many had ape in their name or title.

 

And yes – I had to stretch my subject of ape theories and theses for human evolution to round out my top ten, but I’ll stretch it out even more for my usual twenty special mentions for various aspects of human evolution.

 

 

(1) WALKING APE (BIPEDALISM)

 

My ape title for human bipedalism, which has been the subject of several theories for its evolution – “There are at least twelve distinct hypotheses as to how and why bipedalism evolved in humans, and also some debate as to when”.

 

(2) RUNNING APE (ENDURANCE & PERSISTENCE)

 

As the saying goes, you have to walk before you can run – and the walking ape leads naturally to the running ape or the endurance running hypothesis – “a series of conjectures which presume humans evolved anatomical and physiological adaptations to run long distances…proponents of this hypothesis assert that endurance running served as a means for hominins to effectively engage in persistence hunting”

 

(3) GRASPING APE (POWER & PRECISION GRIP)

 

Alternatively, the gripping ape – the evolved power and precision grip of the human hand (including the ulnar opposition or contact between the thumb and little finger), “underlying all the skilled manipulations”, as well as the act of throwing.

In tabletop game terms, humans maxed their dexterity and intelligence stats.

 

(4) GAZING APE (COOPERATIVE EYE)

 

My ape title for the cooperative eye hypothesis – “a proposed explanation for the appearance of the human eye…that the eye’s distinctive visible characteristics evolved to make it easier for humans to follow another’s gaze while communicating or while working together on tasks.”

That is, humans have eyes with white or unpigmented sclera (for distinct color contrast between the sclera and the iris or pupil), as well as eyes that are larger in proportion to body size – “among primates, humans are the only species where the outline of the eye and the position of the iris can be clearly seen in each individual”.

 

(5) CHATTERING APE (COMPLEX LANGUAGE)

 

It’s not for nothing that the final episode (and chapter) of David Attenborough’s Life on Earth for humanity is called The Compulsive Communicators – with the evolution of complex language as the distinctive feature of humans.