Humans as the aquaphilic ape

Credit: Nature (2013) doi:10.1038/nature12228 Every now and then I'm asked about the 'aquatic ape hypothesis'. My standard response is that there's nothing to see, and everyone should just move on. But reading a new (open access) paper in Nature, Great ape genetic diversity and population history, it crossed my mind again. The reason is this section of the legend of figure 1, "The Sanaga River forms a natural boundary between Nigeria–Cameroon and central chimpanzee populations whereas the Congo River separates the bonobo population from the central and eastern chimpanzees." I knew of the latter division. The former was novel to me. In fact I'd never even heard of the Sanaga river prior to this paper. Though the Congo seems clearly a significant geological and hydrological entity, I'm not quite so sure of the Sanaga. The division between the chimpanzees of Nigeria-Cameroon and those of the western Congo region may be one with an overdetermined number of causes.