I submit that humans are in fact FANTASTIC apes.

Check out this page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_locomotion

According to it:

“While tetrapods lost many of their natural adaptations to swimming when they evolved onto the land, many have re-evolved the ability to swim”

and

“Humans do not swim instinctively, but nonetheless feel attracted to water, showing a broader range of swimming movements than other non-aquatic animals (Bender 1999: 119-169). In contrast, many monkeys can naturally swim and some, like the proboscis monkey, crab-eating macaque, and Rhesus macaque swim regularly.

Large primates other than man generally do not like to swim. Wild chimpanzees and some gorillas will wade in very shallow water but will make no attempt to cross larger bodies of water. Orangutans don’t swim instinctively but will attempt it under pressure or if learned.”

The first I have already submitted to the six word memoirs site:
Universal creations require space to create.

This one I created via your request:
Opened portal entered Networld creating history.

Be well;
Nytsky

“# Cotterpin Says:
May 11th, 2009 at 10:43 pm

I think you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not ‘can ape’s swim’, it’s why are the great apes (including humans) the only animal that need to learn how to swim. Drop a kitten, puppy, …etc in the middle of a lake and they can swim. Drop a baby in the middle of a lake and they drown.”

I don’t know where to start, so I just answer really short, true an concise:
You are wrong. Human babies swim brilliantly.
Ok, you get a little bit more. Go buy a Nirvana CD or hang out at Baby Swim at your local public bath. Or no, don’t. We just forget how to swim, but then, we tend to overload and shut down a lot of systems, skills etc pretty fast.

Jonathan – Huge hugs for Still Alive!

They are either walking on top of the water or drowning in it.

With regard to chimpanzees, they don’t do well in water. They’ll splash around in shallow water, but in deep water, whether it’s because they “don’t know how” or their ratios are wrong (they are VERY heavy/muscular for their size), but they do sink.

There are some gorillas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_River_Gorilla) that do actually venture into water, but I don’t know if it would qualify as “swimming.”

It’s hard in this case even to lump gorillas/chimps/orangs into the same category, since their locomotor morphologies are different, and they spend different amounts of time in the trees. I’d believe more that an orangutan could swim than a gorilla. Or a bonobo more than a chimp.

The point is, the only real natural swimmer of the Great Ape bunch is good old Homo sapiens.

That’s the primatologist’s 2 cents.

I didn’t come up with much… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ObDgBLFo9w is a vid of monkeys swimming. I don’t know. I’m leaning towards the chimps can swim but they don’t like it. ^_^

Also I once dropped a dog out of a canoe and he sank like a rock. (But maybe he would have paddled back to the surface if I gave him a few minutes, instead I just pulled him out right away. Not very scientific, sorry.)

However, I heartily agree that Mythbusters needs to look into this one. All the better if at least one explosion is involved somewhere along the line.

And you don’t want to face an angry gorilla. You really don’t.

Seems to me floating prostrate on the waters surface is not swimming (any more than laying on your back on the floor of your living room is walking or crwling.)

An i am pretty sure bugs are in the animal kindom (as opposed to the various multicelled microorganisms, plants or fungi)

Also, don’t snow monkeys in Japan hang out in hot pools? Does that count as swimming? Do you think they know about the rule about not putting your head under?

I own the Planet Earth DVD and can indeed verify that at one point it features a type of monkey that actually swims for fun (as well as to keep cool). There’s even footage of them swimming underwater, just zipping through the water. So, not only does that kind of money know how to swim, it also knows to hold its breath underwater, just like we do.

There’s another question for you – do any animals know to take a deep breath before going under?

My husband tells me its complete lies and that they can swim. I’m not sure I’m convinced, they don’t have a lot of swimming pools on the pig farm he used to work on so I don’t really think he’s qualified to state that so adamantly.

Also I LOVE that you got so taken with this idea you had to blog about it! Its been a while since we had such a random blog post! <3

At least, I don’t think it can….

Of course, given the audience, it may have already been done – but if not, then, well, then, I *double dog dare you*, JoCo and Molly!

(Hmm, would it be too far to suggest maybe it could be a collaborative work? Or failing that, maybe an unofficial “rematch” between two SongFu winners?)

(Yes, I know it isn’t *really* a rematch, but that sounds better *smirk*)

I know.

I know.

I’m just as upset as you are.

As to the body fat argument, Phelps is a poor example because most other primates have much more dense musculature, which makes them heaver (and way stronger). FWIW, and not totally off the subject, women float more easily than men because they have a higher percentage of body fat (= lower percentage of muscle mass, which is heaver).

Do chimpanzees swim?

In general chimpanzees do not like to swim. Chimpanzees have stocky bodies that prevent them from being strong swimmers. Many chimpanzees, however, enjoy splashing around and playing in water.

Also, humans must have at least ~5% bodyfat to function, even though it sometimes may not look like it. Remember, human bodyfat is not all at the surface.

Also also, Mythbusters are totally your chums on Twitter: get -them- to do the legwork on this one.

I don’t buy the “body fat” argument. Michael Phelps doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him, and yet I’m pretty sure he can swim.

But I’m not here to argue the question – when you ask why people don’t start throwing monkeys into pools, I can report that people have. There’s the sad story of Mabel the Swimming Monkey, who died in a University of Toronto pool, but not because she couldn’t swim. Here are several versions of the story:

* ESR’s Jargon File

* A version posted to the RISKS digest

* Eric Postpischil’s version

None of these stories mention what kind of monkey Mabel was, but all of them end with the moral “Always mount a Scratch Monkey.