How philanthropist and anthropologist Phillip Tobias was declared senile

Marc Verhaegen, a Belgian doctor and expert in human evolution, was attending an anthropology conference in the late 1990s. But he didn't feel at ease. The thought that professor Phillip Tobias was there too, brought him out in a cold sweat. Marc knew that his ideas on human evolution would not amuse Phillip Tobias, the celebrated and beloved professor of anatomy and human biology from South Africa. Going against concensus, Marc rejected the generally accepted and dogma-infused savannah theory of human evolution. Instead, he supported the AAT (aquatic adaptations theory), which really upset some of the world's most respected anthropologists. Indeed, Marc did not look forward to meeting Phillip Tobias. 

By Kathelijne Bonne. Support GondwanaTalks with a one-time or recurring donation.

Dr. Marc Verhaegen shares some personal experiences and his meeting with Phillip Tobias (October 14, 1925 – June 7, 2012). These fleeting moments may seem trivial today because they have not yet had an immediate impact. But they may someday be of transformative, historical value.

What is the Aquatic Ape Theory, Dr. Marc Verhaegen?

"The waterside hypothesis or aquatic adaptations theory, formerly known as the aquatic ape theory (AAT), is a theory of human evolution. The AAT posits that humans, as a very strange and naked ape, acquired some our primary characteristics by spending several interludes of our evolution near or in water."

"Certain characteristics such as hairlessness, subcutaneous fat, controlled breath, and many other traits are not shared with land animals, and even less so with savanna animals, but rather with marine mammals. However, the evolution towards a marine life was obviously not complete. Before we were significantly adapted to the water, we returned to land. We are now land animals. But we have retained our most striking characteristics from a partially aquatic past."

The waterside hypothesis breaks away from the 'classic' savanna theory that is perceived as 'accepted': an ape descended from the trees, moved to the savanna, stood up on two legs, and began to hunt. Thus, he (and especially he) eventually became human.

Who was Phillip Tobias?

Phillip Tobias was born in Durban, South Africa, on October 14, 1925. When he was fifteen years old, his sister died of diabetes. That loss affected him deeply and prompted him to study medicine. He graduated in 1950 and became a lecturer of anatomy. His interests ranged widely and extended across evolution, genetics, and zoology.

With equal passion, Phillip Tobias was a fierce opponent of apartheid and spent his entire life actively fighting racism and discrimination. Throughout his long career, he received many awards. He is best known as a leading paleoanthropologist, a colleague of Louis Leakey, and a student of Raymond Dart (the discoverer of the Taung Child).

Marc, when did you first hear about the Waterside Hypothesis?

"My interest in human evolution was passed down to me by my granddad. During my first year of medical school in 1969–1970, I was utterly captivated by the biology classes, especially the explanatory power of evolution theory, which as a boy, I had never heard of in catholic school. 

In 1972, I read Elaine Morgan's international bestseller The Descent of Woman, in which I first read about the aquatic ape theory (AAT). I found it very fascinating and convincing, but at the time I was mainly preoccupied with questions like: if evolution is about the survival of species, why is there war?"

"Some time later, I understood that evolution revolves around the survival of DNA, not so much of species. The AAT increasingly appealed to me. I also devoured Desmond Morris's The Naked Ape. The AAT provided a very elegant explanation for many typically human diseases, about which I learned more starting in 1972 at the University of Leuven."

You even published an article...

"For a few years, I was mainly focused on graduating and finding a job, getting married and starting a family, and setting up a general practice. But later I found time again to seek answers to my questions."

"In the early 1980s, I believed I had gathered some new insights, and starting in 1983, I tried to publish an article, which I finally succeeded in doing in 1985! 

I was in a bliss: everyone would now realize that the savanna theory is wrong. The AAT would be accepted!"

"But my elation was followed by … a massive silence. Nothing happened at all. The article was completely ignored. But there was light at the end of the tunnel: Elaine Morgan, who had introduced the AAT to the general public through her bestselling books, had taken notice of me and contacted me in 1986. That marked the beginning of a decades-long correspondence, totalling hundreds of letters. After turning 70, she learned how to use e-mail."

... and then you stood face to face with Phillip Tobias. How did he react?

"There's a bit of a prelude to that. To learn more about aquatic mammals and their typical adaptations to a watery life, had in the meantime joined the Flemish Association for the Study of Marine Mammals (VVBZ). This organization held regular meetings and published a journal, and was founded by professor Wim de Smet, from whom I had taken histology at the University of Antwerp (1971–1972)."

"Elaine Morgan helped organize several international conferences, which David Attenborough also attended, and which led to a wonderful BBC program about the Waterside Ape."

"Suddenly he saw me!"

"And I, in turn, had proclaimed in articles and at conferences that professor Phillip Tobias was totally wrong with his savanna theories. I was afraid of the reaction from this important and loved top scientist. He attended some of those conferences (in Ghent and in South Africa), which made me nervous. Then, suddenly, he saw me, looked in my eyes and walked right up to me! I got scared. All I wanted, was the ground to swallow me up."

"But he opened his arms and embraced me. I will never forget that moment; it is etched in my memory forever. He admitted, probably aided by his medical training, that the savanna theory was wrong."

"The most profligate urinators"

"We were all incomprehensibly and hopelessly wrong, myself included," Phillip Tobias said. "All former savanna proponents must immediately retract their claims. Had our ancestors ever lived on the savanna, we would undoubtedly have been the most 'profligate urinators' there!" (Phillip Tobias referred to the rather inefficient fluid regulation in humans: we lose a lot of water, for example, when urinating, which contradicts an origin on the dry savanna.

But other 'classical' paleoanthropologists said:

Tobias is becoming senile.

"True to our calling"

Phillip Tobias, despite prejudices and ego, had scrutinized the AAT and, as an open-minded researcher, given it a chance (which many anthropologists do not do). "Given all this old and new evidence, the time has come for evolutionary specialists to open their minds and think honestly and objectively about the role of water in the evolution of humanity", he said.

"We can no longer shy away from questions regarding distinctive human characteristics such as skin, sweat glands, the chemical composition of sweat, the regulation and fluctuations of body temperature, tolerance for heat and radiation, and our water consumption, which in modern humans differ so greatly from those of mammals adapted to the savanna. In some cases, human characteristics are very reminiscent of those of aquatic mammals."

And because he knew the theory would be met with outrage, he noted that "those who are honest with themselves will examine the evidence objectively. We must do so if we wish to remain true to our calling as scientists."

Shattered

With his statements, Tobias' reputation was shattered, for the waterside hypothesis is one of the most ridiculed theories, precisely because its acceptance would upend the careers and reputations of countless scientists. Understandably, no one is eager to see a carefully constructed house of cards collapse.

Changing the prevailing paradigm is seldom rewarded – it is a thankless job that often takes longer than a career or a human lifetime. Those who challenge the consensus are often met with ridicule rather than with an open, fair debate. They are dismissed as senile, controversial, or, at best, eccentric (the attacks that AAT proponents still face today are much ruder). 

The most active proponents of AAT are silenced: their work and publications are ignored (if they aren't first sabotaged by anonymous reviewers and editors-in-chief, which recently happened to the article "Have we been barking up the wrong ancestral tree?").

Galileo

For the sake of convenience, people forget that the theories of the world's greatest innovators, such as Galileo (the Sun, not the Earth, at the centre of the solar system), Wegener (plate tectonics), and many others, were also seen as ridiculous, idiotic or scandalous, because they undermine the foundations of established orders. These people do not live to see the later, inevitable general acceptance of their ideas.

Marc, why do you think the waterside or coastal hypothesis is still not widely accepted, despite the support of some leading figures such as Phillip Tobias and David Attenborough?

"First and foremost, due to fanatical censorship; see p. 13 in my book Human Evolution (2022, so far in Dutch only: De evolutie van de Mens). Furthermore, scientific progress is often counterintuitive (p. 14) and requires a break with what feels self-evident, and that hurts. Science does not provide 'unique' explanations, but seeks to offer universal explanations that often contain paradoxes and apparent exceptions. Other reasons for dismissing the theory include anthropocentrism, huge egos, and laziness."

"An anthropologist told me: The AAT cannot be right, because then my life's work would have been useless … Others write to me privately but don't dare come out of the closet."

"Yet there is increasing evidence for the AAT from both fossils and comparative biology of living species. The problem is that physicians and biologists are often more open to the AAT and know a great deal about (living) biology and comparative anatomy, but not about primates or great ape fossils. With paleoanthropologists, it's the other way around. They know the fossils and the bones, but know less about today's living species, which provide a wealth of clues about our ancestry. Phillip Tobias bridged both."

This shows once again how important interdisciplinary science is, combined with an open mind.

"We'll get there. But we still have a lot of wading to do, I fear."

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The Middle East region was crucial in human evolution. Due to the plate tectonics of the Red Sea, the closure of the Tethys Sea, and events in the Mediterranean, significant divergences occurred among the ancestors of humans, extinct hominid species and other great apes. In the article on the waterside hypothesis (and how early humans began walking upright by wading and climbing), you'll get an overview of where the theory currently stands, although the evidence has since grown. Read more about whales and how they were once land animals and why they went to the sea.

Fascinating video with David Attenborough about wading apes. 

Kathelijne, editor of GondwanaTalks: I am intrigued by how earth, life, air, ocean and societies interact on geological and human timescales.

Why I started GondwanaTalks.

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