Humans could evolve webbed feet if sea levels rise, scientist claims

Telegraph ^ | January 13, 2016 | Sarah Knapton

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The perils of climate change are well known, but rising sea levels could also alter human evolution, scientists have claimed.

Rising sea levels could force communities to live in underwater or semi-aquatic towns which could change out physiology.

Dr Matthew Skinner a paleoanthropologist from the University of Kent, claims that humans could evolve to have webbed hands and feet and less body hair so they could move quickly through the water.

Our eyes would even become more like cats, so we could see in the murky gloom of seas and rivers and our lungs would shrink as we became used to using artificial tanks to breathe underwater.

"Regular underwater foraging would lead to the evolution of longer fingers and toes which would then likely develop 'webbed' interconnecting skin to enable easier swimming," said Dr Skinner.

[raybbr]

[Tax-chick]

This is the kind of BS they teach in high school and lower grades.

Obviously, this is the kind of BS they teach in college, too.

[Brad from Tennessee]

Dr. Skinner needs to give that crack pipe a rest.

[RC one]

[Lazamataz]

What a freakshow the Global Warming people are.

[Lazamataz]

Give me some of your tail.

[Vaquero]

Stupidest thing I ever read. I don’t know where to start. So I won’t. Laughing at the premise is the appropriate answer

[lucky american]

Don’t these”scientists “ realize man has invented boots and coats for cold,wet weather? What ignorance.
This could only be true if the world were suddenly thrust into a nuclear holocaust and everyone lost their memories.

[BroJoeK]

"Matthew Skinner is a paleoanthropologist whose research focuses on the analysis of teeth and bones to answer questions about the growth and development, diet, taxonomy and evolutionary history of living and extinct primates, including fossil hominins.
Specifically, he is interested in taxonomic diversity and evolutionary history of humans and apes, dental tissue development in the present and past, and form/function relationships in the primate skeleton."

"My current research projects include:
• "GRASP Evolution of the human hand: Grasping trees and tools (funded by European Research Council Starting Grant 2014-2019) view here

• "Tooth structure in extant and fossil primates: Examination of the two primary tissues of primate teeth, enamel and dentine to 1) improve our understanding of the processes underlying tooth shape, and 2) use tooth structure to contribute to our understanding of the evolutionary history of humans (including our fossil relatives).
  This research covers the whole period of human evolution and examines fossils from Africa, Europe and Asia. View here.

• "Developmental stress in chimpanzees: Investigating the prevalence and underlying cause of developmental stress in chimpanzees as manifested in their dental tissues. View here.

• "Fossil hominin and hominoid hand use: Comparative investigation of fossil hominin (australopiths to Neandertals) and Miocene hominoid hand remains using morphometric and micro-CT data. This research aims to shed light on locomotor and tool-use behaviours throughout the evolution of the human lineage. With Tracy Kivell (Kent).

• "Functional signals in trabecular and cortical bone structure: A comparative investigation of internal bony morphology of the primate hand to assess variation in joint loading patterns and how this reflects differences in locomotor and manipulative behaviours. With Tracy Kivell (Kent)."

Obviously the good professor has much more spare time on his hands than he needs.

[Salamander]

Here ya go

[Lazamataz]

OH BABY!

[Salamander]

You know that I cannot deny your requests.

;)

[meatloaf]

If he has a Facebook page, Waterworld has to be on it. I wonder how many times he’s seen it. Must be in double digits.

[Salamander]

Forget webbed feet.

I want gills and wicked cool dorsal fin.

[Tax-chick]

This could only be true if the world were suddenly thrust into a nuclear holocaust and everyone lost their memories.

No, it couldn't be "true" in that scenario, either. The chance of any human being's spontaneously experiencing a helpful genetic mutation is statistically zero.

[Sooth2222]

Most Democrats would need to devolve into fish. How is this a bad thing?

[Mike Darancette]

“Dr Matthew Skinner a paleoanthropologist from the University of Kent, claims that humans could evolve to have webbed hands and feet and less body hair so they could move quickly through the water”.

Is this guy part of the 97%? This is settled science.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

No doubt about it.

His funding is rolling in.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

: )

[Covenantor]

Forget webbed feet.

Oh sure, easy for you to say, you've got that long tail for propulsion.

I want gills and wicked cool dorsal fin.

Yup,yup,yup...would have looked better with a wicked dorsal sail instead of those fringed things...

chick magnet....