Discussion on hypothesized ancestral human cyclical ARC dive-foraging

[wet]

Dense bones in benthic dive foraging archaic (but not recent pelagic odontocetes &) mysticetes:
The Aquatic Amniote: Injured fossil mysticete and an investigation of osteosclerosis (and benthic feeding?) in fossil mysticetes

[Possible stone swallowing for ballast as well, as in crocs, penguins and seals?]

Decompression sickness signs and deep diving evolution in whales
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18446257
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19427415?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_SingleItemSupl.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmed
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The problem in identifying dental microwear characteristics in aquatic herbivory: differentiating signs, similar patterns, different quantities of phytoliths, broad spectrum herbivory/omnivory vs single species diet.
http://aquaticamniotes.blogspot.com/2009/10/problem-with-microwear-1-of-many-to.html

[Congo gorillas consume much aquatic floating herb hydrocharis with some sedges, modern humans consume much wetland rice and variably water lily (pond lily) and sedge (chufa) benthic rhyzomes, whilst archaic hominoids probably consumed all of these in addition to invertebrates and waterside tree fruits.]
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"Instead of studies of nociception, thermoreception, muscle spindles, or even general spinal nerve mechanoreceptors, Denhardt & Mauck’s (chapter 17) introduction to the physics and physiology of mechanoreception, as well as their following chapter (18) on mechanoreception in secondarily aquatic vertebrates, focus almost entirely on the trigeminal system of mechanoreception that innervates facial areas. The reason for this becomes clear, as this is where most aquatic specializations exist for actively seeking prey items. [Note: not same as chasing mobile prey.] The attention to the work of Daphne Soares and the folks at the University of Maryland on dome pressure receptors in Alligator is particularly striking, as is Denhardt’s own work on pinniped vibrissae."
http://aquaticamniotes.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-of-sensory-evolution-on.html

 

[TimoP]

Possible stone swallowing for ballast as well, as in crocs, penguins and seals?

Now it's something really interesting from wet and this is something related to freediving!
I have tested different kind of weights recently, but this haven't come to my mind. That would be a very hydrodynamic solution
Maybe a problem in dept disciplines: how to get rid of the extra weight quicly...:yack
And swallowing lead, hmm...:blackeye
.

 

[Mullins]

Would have interesting implications for variable weight....

 

[trux]

Better than lead for this purpose would be mercury - not only it is easier to swallow, but it has also higher specific weight than lead, and additionally it has purgative effects, so you would leave it down there in the depth with no big effort.

 

[TimoP]

But not a good idea to just leave mercury there, it's very dangerous for water environment. It must be recycled. If it's variable, there should be a (dry???)toilet on the bottom plate. Tags maybe hanging there on the wall inside the toilet, so you would have some good time for taking and attaching it.

And that UW-toilet system, maybe we must ask from astronauts how do that. The last divers must hope that the earlier divers haven't had any technical problems with it.

Oh yes, more things to train...and for AIDA something new to think about: Variable Weight/Bottom Plate Toilet, Rules and Guidelines for Organizers.

'Packing' would have new meanings: "How much you packed?" "3 kg mercury 2 hours before OT, and air 15 times at OT".

 

[trux]

No problem with mercury in water environment - in a single tuna fish there is more of it than in your neckweight, so you can stay assured that couple of VWT charges per day wont harm the environment more than the evil tunas do!

 

[podge]

Will the new under water toilet have a newspaper that you can read while you’re recycling the lead and mercury??roflroflrofl

 

[Arjen]

I seemed to have missed the lead reference of my friend. Did he edit it out? Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[podge]

But not a good idea to just leave mercury there, it's very dangerous for water environment. It must be recycled. If it's variable, there should be a (dry???)toilet on the bottom plate. Tags maybe hanging there on the wall inside the toilet, so you would have some good time for taking and attaching it.

And that UW-toilet system, maybe we must ask from astronauts how do that. The last divers must hope that the earlier divers haven't had any technical problems with it.

Oh yes, more things to train...and for AIDA something new to think about: Variable Weight/Bottom Plate Toilet, Rules and Guidelines for organisators.

'Packing' would have new meanings: "How much you packed?" "3 kg mercury 2 hours before OT, and air 15 times at OT".

Will the new under water toilet have a newspaper that you can read while you’re recycling the lead and mercury??roflroflrofl

I seemed to have missed the lead reference of my friend. Did he edit it out? Can anyone enlighten me?

there you go

 

[TimoP]

I seemed to have missed the lead reference of my friend. Did he edit it out? Can anyone enlighten me?

wet hasn't mentioned lead (yet, as far as i know), but i think freedivers are so used to use it, not just stones...

 

[TimoP]

Will the new under water toilet have a newspaper that you can read while you’re recycling the lead and mercury??roflroflrofl

It must be something relaxing reading like The Yoga News.

------
Edit:
In fact there is one or even several:
http://www.discover-yoga-online.com/yoga-news.html
.

 

[Arjen]

It must be something relaxing reading like The Yoga News.

Edit:
In fact there is one or even several:
The Yoga News, Your Free monthly yoga ezine

I would go for a paper version from the underwater times.

 

[TimoP]

I would go for a paper version from the underwater times.

Yes, it suits very well to the situation, Life In Water! There will be two official AIDA UW-toilet readings (both must be there):

So enjoy and take your time!

 

[wet]

Dolphins and African apes: Comparisons of sympatric socio-ecology

(Similarities of African apes and dolphins in group fission-fusion behavior)
<a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gv9w4jw#">http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5gv9w4jw#</a>

[not familiar with this paper, not sure why the link doesn't work here, but it does at my blog post.]
http://the-arc-ddeden.blogspot.com/2009/10/marine-rift-conduit.html

 

[wet]

Shallow-water habitats as sources of fallback foods for hominins
R Wrangham, D Cheney, R Seyfarth & E Sarmiento 2009 AJPA 140:630-642

Underground/underwater Storage Organs (rhyzomes) consumed by hominins could have included both underwater and underground storage organs, ie, from both aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Shallow aquatic habitats tend to offer high plant growth rates, high densities, and relatively continuous availability throughout the year.

This study differs from traditional savanna chimpanzee models of hominin origins by proposing that access to aquatic habitats was a necessary condition for adaptation to savanna habitats. It also raises the possibility that harvesting efficiency in shallow water promoted adaptations for habitual bipedality in early hominins.
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As I'd referred to here:
(* THE-ARC *): Marine-Rift Conduit
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As opposed to specialized sedge root eaters such as the robust australopiths like Nutcracker Man, per paleoanthropologist John Hawks: "We think of them having big teeth, but really only the molar and pre-molar teeth are big, while their incisors and canines are teeny-tiny, much smaller than in humans, and you'd want to retain incisors if you're taking husks off fruit. So maybe they are specialized after all - there was interesting research into them eating papyrus roots, living in swampish places."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091109/sc_livescience/humanoriginsourcrazyfamilytree

 

[wet]

PSR - MDR

Web-based, participant-driven studies yield novel genetic associations for common traits.

Genome firm finds gene for sneeze, but no diseases yet - health - 29 October 2009 - New Scientist

"For photic sneeze reflex, we identify one SNP, rs1040173, with a p-value less than 10-9.7"
Rs1040173 - SNPedia

The photic sneeze gene is on chromosome 2 (as are congenital hypothyroidism and hemochromatosis genes). Apes have 24 chromosome pairs (primitive hominid), humans have derived 23 pairs, due to a detachment and fusion at chromosome 2, see ref.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome_2_(human)

Based on ARC diving theory, this fusion of chromosome 2 uniquely in humans may tie in with unique forms/disorders/features not otherwise expected in a hominoid, such as infant colic, highly contagious parotid gland mandible-specific post-weaned childhood mumps, atypical hominoid Mammalian Diving Reflex, post-dark-adaptation Photic Sneeze Reflex, hypothyroidism-goiter, iron-copper storage hemochromatosis and (unconfirmed) increased osteosclerosis/pachyostosis.

Also expected but not yet confirmed, are contemporal associations with increased carnivory (protein processing via suction feeding), Nitric Oxide and vasopressin/oxytocin correlating salt-water regulation (kidneys, blood, eccrine sweat) and pair-bonding with vocal/aural rhythm (click consonants) and tone (hum vowels) and plausibly early stick/stone tool usage (bilateral hydrodynamic stone axe, spear).


Why do some people sneeze when they look at the sun? Scienceline

Mumps is a paramyxovirus of a single serological type, man is the only known natural host for this virus, it spreads via saliva and airborne droplets from the upper respiratory tract, and primarily induces swelling of the parotid gland of the lower jaw in children between 5 years and 19 years (post-weaned adolescence to puberty). Two viral proteins are key to infectious process, for mumps virus the the attachment protein is the haemagglutinin/neuraminidase protein.
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"Speech" genes
A Gene Critical For Speech / Science News
Revisiting FOXP2 and the origins of language : Not Exactly Rocket Science

 

[wet]

The Deep-Sea Crab That Eats Trees - Ocean Leadership

Evidence can be hard to come by at the coasts... wood-hafted stone axes, bamboo spears, dugout canoes & reed rafts, coconut shells and bone tools all tend to be consumed by marine and shore organisms and endlessly ground into smaller and smaller pieces by shore tides and sea level changes even at calm lagoons over millenia. Inland tool materials often also get recycled back into the ecosystem due to biological and chemical agents, but some get buried by layers of volcanic ash (tephra) or lava or landslides or deposition in anoxic bogs which prevent biotic recycling due to anaerobic conditions.

Innovative thinking helps to find clues to the past:

"Patterson's team have now set their sights on even more precise records of historical climate. They have built a robot able to shave 0.05 micrometre slivers along the growth lines of fossilised clam shells, giving a resolution of less than a day. "We can get you mid-July (water) temperatures from 400 million years ago," he says."
Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months - environment - 11 November 2009 - New Scientist

 

[wet]

Regarding human milk vs apes/monkeys, in reference to Neu5ac, potential infant buoyancy and/or infectious contagion, and marine mammal kidney traits...
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MW: "But humans are the only catarrhine (old-world-monkey-like) primate with kidneys with medullary pyramids-- a feature that is nearly universal in marine mammals" (which forage in hypertonic fluids).
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Milk composition in hominoids, human milk is unique to all apes and all mammals
<a href="http://glycob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/5/499">http://glycob.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/5/499</a>

"In comparison, type I oligosaccharides predominate over type II oligosaccharides in human milk, whereas nonprimate milk almost always contains only type II oligosaccharides. The milk or colostrum of the great apes contained oligosaccharides bearing both N-glycolylneuraminic acid and N-acetylneuraminic acid, whereas human milk contains only the latter. Great ape milk, like that of humans, contained fucosylated oligosaccharides whereas (lesser ape) siamang milk did not."

So human mothers' milk contains [uniquely] fucosylated oligosaccharides with N-acetylneuraminic acid (but not N-glycolylneuraminic acid), a unique form of milk found nowhere else, not in cows, not in swimming swamp monkeys, not in bonobo chimpanzees. I do not know if this connects to greater digestive GI buoyancy or colic, or association with mothers increased carnivory (seafoods?) or that newborn human infants have more lobulated kidneys than adults (related to incipient saltwater consumption but insufficient eccrine sweating due to abundant dorsal brown fat and enveloping white fat for thermoinsulation and metabolic regulation?).

N-Acetylneuraminic acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neu5Ac apparently has one (chemically bound) molecule of water less than Neu5Gc, per the diagram linked to below.

"It is interesting to take into account the maldistribution of the Neu5Gc and Neu5Ac between the organisms when we consider evolution, especially in case of chimpanzee and human. These two animals are said to have split from a common ancestor 5-6 million years ago and have very highly homologous genes (homology- 97%). Only 3 % of the genes is different between the two species and it is noteworthy that CMP-Neu5Ac hydroxylase is one such genes. In addition, the insertion of the AluY sequence into human genome is considered to have occurred 2.7-2.8 million years ago. This era was just before the Stone Age and just before the age that the brain volume of human increased remarkably (2.1 million years ago). These phenomena may be related to the fact that human has exclusively Neu5Ac5,8). In addition, it is very interesting that all vertebrates that have both Neu5Ac and Neu5Gc in various tissues contain exclusively Neu5Ac in the brain. Such findings lead us to imagine that human might have selected Neu5Ac after using diverse sialic acids like Neu5Gc (via degeneration of the gene)5,8)"
GlycoWord / Evolution-ES-A03

 

[wet]

Fish oil, statins and neural disease, post at Greg Laden's blog

Fish Oil, Statins, and Neural Disease : Greg Laden's Blog

[If excess apnea did induce (temporary) brain damage, might fish oil (& other seafoods) repair the damage? Possibly compare to whales fishing at depth for parallel effects.]

 

[wet]

A new study provides more evidence that the human version of a protein known as FOXP2 may have aided the evolution of language. The study finds that human FOXP2, compared with the chimp version, had 2 amino acid changes, which alters the activity of at least 116 genes in brain cells
Genetic Effects Suggest FOXP2 Role In Language Evolution / Science News

[In human, better sustained mouth vocalization/tongue/breath control but weaker jaws and poorer nose musculature control and loss of laryngeal air sac?]

Newborns muscle/nerve movements synchronized with adult speech
Neonate Movement Is Synchronized with Adult Speech: Interactional Participation and Language Acquisition -- Condon and Sander 183 (4120): 99 -- Science

Physical/facial gestures processed in brain's language area (sub-aqua signaling?)
Gestures Processed in Brain's Language Center - Yahoo! News
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Signaling and anti-microbial skin in amphibians and bacteria (possible parallels to hypothyroidism in part-time semi-aquatic apneic warm-blooded mammals?)
Lab Rat: Amphibian Skin
Lab Rat: Trends in bacterial signalling pathways