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Science & Technology

Are we a cross between a pig and a chimp ?

By T.K. Randall
December 1, 2013 · Comment icon 184 comments

Are we related to pigs ? Image Credit: sxc.hu
One of the world's leading hybridization experts believes that humans did not evolve entirely from apes.
Dr Eugene McCarthy has turned the conventional idea of human evolution on its head by putting forward a radical new theory suggesting that mankind is the result of a fateful encounter between a male pig and a female chimpanzee.

A leading authority in hybridization, Dr McCarthy has based this hypothesis on the fact that humans possess a great many features that do not correspond to those of any other known primate. Instead, he maintains that the common pig is the missing link in explaining where these traits came from.
"We believe that humans are related to chimpanzees because humans share so many traits with chimpanzees," he said. "Is it not rational then also, if pigs have all the traits that distinguish humans from other primates, to suppose that humans are also related to pigs? Let us take it as our hypothesis, then, that humans are the product of ancient hybridization between pig and chimpanzee."

There are many cases, such as when surgeons have used pig hearts and other organs for human transplant, in which pigs appear to be at least partly genetically compatible with humans. Could it be that pigs are a closer relative to us than we could have ever believed ?

"It might seem unlikely that a pig and a chimpanzee would choose to mate, but their behaviour patterns and reproductive anatomy does, in fact, make them compatible," said Dr. McCarthy. "It is, of course, a well-established fact that animals sometimes attempt to mate with individuals that are unlike themselves, even in a natural setting, and that many of these crosses successfully produce hybrid offspring."

Source: Times of India | Comments (184)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #175 Posted by seeder 11 years ago
whoops sorry forgot the checkable sources: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/faq/cat02.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/21c_pre_2011/evolution/evolutionhormonenervousrev1.shtml
Comment icon #176 Posted by Sundew 11 years ago
I now believe this is possible after watching Deliverance... May no one ever make you squeal like a pig!
Comment icon #177 Posted by gentai 11 years ago
seeder, i cant tell if you are saying that what i think is impossible or possible. i knew everything you said in post #175 before my dream. it was not a gorilla i saw but a gorllla looking hominid that i called "gorilla ancestor" because it looked like it was part of whatever ancestral race the gorillas evolved from. i was not speaking of the original common ancestor of humans and apes. i spoke of parents of first "human" ancestor. it appeared to me that there already were different species of hominid around when the first "human" was born. im only interested in knowing how possible it is that... [More]
Comment icon #178 Posted by seeder 11 years ago
seeder, i cant tell if you are saying that what i think is impossible or possible. i knew everything you said in post #175 before my dream. it was not a gorilla i saw but a gorllla looking hominid that i called "gorilla ancestor" because it looked like it was part of whatever ancestral race the gorillas evolved from. i was not speaking of the original common ancestor of humans and apes. i spoke of parents of first "human" ancestor. it appeared to me that there already were different species of hominid around when the first "human" was born. im only interested in knowing how possible it is that... [More]
Comment icon #179 Posted by psyche101 11 years ago
If I'm related to a pig I want to be able to ejaculate for half an hour like a pig. And find truffles I just bought a truffle tree last weekend Looks like a nice tree, I always wanted to show my kids an Acorn, and I thought it might be an interesting talking point in my garden. According to what I have read, the truffles are so pungent, a human nose will do just fine to detect them!! I'll drop back and let you know if it is true, in about 3-4 years when I expect my first Truffles.
Comment icon #180 Posted by JGirl 11 years ago
LOL!
Comment icon #181 Posted by DecoNoir 11 years ago
Operating by that logic: The hyrax is the result of an elephant getting freaky with a woodchuck.... chew. On that.
Comment icon #182 Posted by psyche101 11 years ago
No one is asking for a free pass. Just not for an automatic dismissal. **Additionally, I am trying to pin down exactly what the claim that he is making is, as well. Would not refusing genetic related material taint the value of his research? His observations appear to be entirely anatomical? I agree with the claim, the specifics regarding the actual instance seem ambiguous. Surely he does not propose a pig jumped a chimp and they had a baby?
Comment icon #183 Posted by aquatus1 11 years ago
As far as I can tell (I stopped reading a while back, when I wasn't able to determine what his actual hypothesis was). He does seem to be proposing a period of cross-species breeding. The part that confuses me is that he treats the entire thing as theoretical, in the sense that he says "These similarities we are seeing are usually caused by hybridization, therefore at some point in the past, back-crossing occurred." He infers that chimp and pig raised babies together as part of his explanation for the similarities, but never addresses the matter any other way, as if there wasn't anything parti... [More]
Comment icon #184 Posted by Lilly 11 years ago
As far as I can tell (I stopped reading a while back, when I wasn't able to determine what his actual hypothesis was). He does seem to be proposing a period of cross-species breeding. The part that confuses me is that he treats the entire thing as theoretical, in the sense that he says "These similarities we are seeing are usually caused by hybridization, therefore at some point in the past, back-crossing occurred." He infers that chimp and pig raised babies together as part of his explanation for the similarities, but never addresses the matter any other way, as if there wasn't anything parti... [More]


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