User:Justin Wabscott/sandbox

Vernix caseosa - a testable hypothesis.

A repeated complaint against the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis was that it offered no testable hypotheses. In 'The Descent of the Child' (1994) Elaine Morgan noted that, "Almost every human baby comes into the world smeared like a long-distance swimmer with a layer of grease. ... known to scientists as the Vernix caseosa, which is Latin for 'cheesy varnish'". In 2005, the BBC Radio 4 series "Scars of Evolution" , presented by Sir David Attenborough, addressed the issue by setting up a testable hypothesis: "If vernix, as suggested by Elaine Morgan, is an adaptation to entering the water at birth or immediately after, then it will not be unique to humans, as extensively reported in the scientific literature , but vernix will also be found in other animals that enter the water soon after being born."

The first suggestion that vernix might not be unique to humans came from Don Bowen at Dalhousie University, who observed that newborn Harbour Seals have a greasy coating, and unlike other seal species, are known to enter the water soon after birth. Tom Brenna at Cornell University, with the help