Mermaids: The Body Found

[eternlgladiator]

Did anybody else watch this documentary/mockumentary on animal planet Sunday night? I'll admit that I didn't really figure out that it was a mockumentary until I did a little research after it was over since it was presented as being pretty legitimate.

I understand that it's easy to use production and the style of information being presented to show the information in a positive light but some of the information seemed pretty believable. Anybody else have thoughts on it?

Here's a link to some info about it.

http://press.discovery.com/ekits/monster-week-mermaids/press-release.html

 

[Doctor Q]

I didn't see the show, but the description says "The film is science fiction, using science as a springboard into imagination". From what you say, it still presented its case as if it were sharing facts.

The first questions that come to mind would be why and when?

If mermaids look like us, they presumably have heads like ours. But we terrestrial humans evolved to have eyes on the fronts of our heads so we could walk upright. I don't see why an aquatic version of humans would have heads like we do, since they'd be looking down while swimming forward.

If we had a common ancestor, would it have been way back in the Paleozoic era, when fish and amphibians parted ways, or are we talking about a split among mammals in the Cenozoic era?

 

[eternlgladiator]

I didn't see the show, but the description says "The film is science fiction, using science as a springboard into imagination". From what you say, it still presented its case as if it were sharing facts.

The first questions that come to mind would be why and when?

If mermaids look like us, they presumably have heads like ours. But we terrestrial humans evolved to have eyes on the fronts of our heads so we could walk upright. I don't see why an aquatic version of humans would have heads like we do, since they'd be looking down while swimming forward.

If we had a common ancestor, would it have been way back in the Paleozoic era, when fish and amphibians parted ways, or are we talking about a split among mammals in the Cenozoic era?

It was a very good special and like I said, I was watching under the impression more facts were being presented than actually were. If I saw it again it would be in a totally different light. That said, they made some very good arguments for some group of humanoids moving to the sea and slowly evolving to live in the water even more so by developing the proper features but still keeping a sort of humanoid feature. It would have taken place millions of years ago early in our development. They refer to the aquatic ape hypothesis. A bit loose and has holes but not unbelievable when you open your mind to possibilities.

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

 

[iJohnHenry]

Man, they was some good eatin', let me tell you.

Sadly, we didn't have fishing controls back in that day.

Gone, all gone.

 

[Mousse]

Man, they was some good eatin', let me tell you.

Sadly, we didn't have fishing controls back in that day.

Gone, all gone.

That explains iJohnHenry's longevity. According to Japanese legends, eating mermaid meat grants immortality.

 

[Grey Beard]

That explains iJohnHenry's longevity. According to Japanese legends, eating mermaid meat grants immortality.

Slight typo? Did you mean immorality, that'd sound more like iJH.

KGB