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A new paper argues that repeated breath-hold diving for coastal foods may have helped shape human endurance before the better-known advantages of long-distance running. Josephine Joordens and Erika Schagatay present this “dive first, run later” idea in a September 17, 2026 article in PaleoAnthropology. It is a proposed evolutionary interpretation—not evidence that diving preceded running in every Homo population.
What the “dive first, run later” hypothesis says
Joordens, a professor of hominin palaeoecology and evolution, and Schagatay, a professor of animal physiology who studies performance in hypoxic environments, combine comparative physiology, anatomy, paleoecology and paleoanthropology to broaden the explanation for human stamina.
In their scenario, some coastal Homo populations increasingly collected aquatic foods through repeated shallow-water dives. Over many generations, traits that made this work more effective could have been favored. Later, related cardiorespiratory capabilities may have contributed to endurance running in populations with lighter skeletons and to coping with oxygen shortages at high altitude.
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How it differs from the established running account
The proposal modifies, rather than overturns, the endurance-running hypothesis. The two ideas can coexist: aquatic foraging could have selected some abilities, while terrestrial pursuit later favored others or used the same physiological foundation.
| Question | Land-focused endurance-running account | Combined land-and-water account |
|---|---|---|
| Proposed selective pressure | Long pursuits of terrestrial prey, including persistence hunting | Repeated aquatic-resource foraging, alongside terrestrial pursuits |
| Main anatomical emphasis | Features associated with efficient, sustained running | Greater bone mass that could help control buoyancy in shallow water, plus running-related anatomy |
| Physiological bridge | Adaptations supporting prolonged terrestrial exercise | Cardiorespiratory traits that could support diving, running and tolerance of hypoxic environments |
| Evidence status | A recognized explanatory hypothesis in human-evolution research | A newer proposal that has not yet been tested as an evolutionary sequence |
Bone density matters underwater because a denser body is less buoyant. In shallow water, that could reduce the effort needed to descend or remain submerged. The paper treats this as a functional interpretation to investigate, not as proof that a particular fossil’s bone mass evolved for diving.
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What the paper does—and does not—establish
The authors explicitly limit their claim. As the paper states, “Testing hypotheses is outside the scope of this paper.” Their contribution is to assemble a testable explanation and identify evidence that future work should examine.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems- It does establish that diving offers a plausible additional lens for interpreting human endurance.
- It does not establish that endurance diving came first for all Homo populations.
- It does not replace evidence for terrestrial running, persistence hunting or other land-based selection pressures.
- It does not provide a new population-level statistic or a decisive fossil measurement proving the sequence.
The fossil record is incomplete and biased toward some environments and body parts. Coastal habitats are particularly difficult to reconstruct, so the absence of clear diving evidence cannot by itself settle the question.
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Why diving could matter to the evolution of endurance
Repeated hypoxia and breath control
Breath-hold diving repeatedly interrupts normal breathing and exposes the body to changing oxygen and carbon-dioxide levels. If coastal foragers made many short dives, selection might have acted on cardiovascular responses that also help during prolonged exercise or other low-oxygen conditions. The paper presents this as a possible physiological bridge, not a demonstrated inheritance from divers to runners.
Buoyancy and skeletal trade-offs
Heavier bones can make submergence easier, but extra mass is costly on land because it increases the energy required to move. A shift toward lighter bones in later populations could therefore reflect a different balance between aquatic and terrestrial demands. Determining whether fossil changes fit that trade-off requires measurements across species, environments and time periods.
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Coastal ecology
Shellfish, fish and other shoreline foods can be predictable resources, but access depends on water depth, season and local technology. The hypothesis asks researchers to look for signs of repeated aquatic exploitation rather than assuming that all important selection occurred on open grasslands.
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- Fossil anatomy: Compare bone density, limb proportions, chest and shoulder anatomy, and other traits in early Homo while accounting for body size, sex and preservation.
- Environmental records: Identify coastal settings and freshwater or shoreline resources that were available when relevant hominin fossils lived there.
- Comparative physiology: Measure how repeated breath-hold diving affects oxygen storage, circulation and exercise performance in living humans and other mammals.
- Behavioral analogues: Use observations of contemporary divers, such as the Ama recording, to define realistic patterns of dive frequency and surface recovery—without treating modern people as direct models of ancient behavior.
- Integrated evolutionary models: Test whether one sequence can explain the timing of skeletal, respiratory and locomotor changes better than running-only or mixed explanations.
What readers should take from the new paper
The important change is one of framing. Human aerobic endurance need not have a single origin or one universal pathway. In some settings, aquatic foraging may have contributed to abilities later useful on land; in others, terrestrial activity may have dominated. The 2026 article invites that broader comparison while leaving the central historical order unresolved.
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The paper is Joordens and Schagatay, “Dive first, run later? The role of endurance diving in human evolution,” PaleoAnthropology (2026), DOI 10.48738/2027.iss1.4031.
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