When you think of Darwinian evolution, I’m sure a lot of you imagine that chart depicting the evolution of man. Humans started as monkeys, walking on all fours, and then we evolved into what we see today. However, what if we threw a pig into that evolutionary process? A geneticist from the University of Georgia is hypothesizing just that. He suggests there is a chance that homo sapiens have characteristics that originate from pigs. Doesn’t the idea make you want to squeal?

Dr. Eugene McCarthy of the University of Georgia is suggesting that the human species began as a hybrid of a male pig and a female chimpanzee. He believes that before humans roamed this Earth, a male pig seduced a female chimpanzee and together they produced a pig-monkey hybrid. This hybrid went on to reproduce with other chimpanzees and together they created an animal that resembles what we know as human beings today.

Now, before you roll your eyes, Dr. McCarthy does point out that human beings have traits that are very similar to pigs. We have light-haired skin, subcutaneous fat (that’s fat right under our skin), light-colored eyes, and protruding noses. Furthermore, Dr. McCarthy highlights that pigs and humans have similar organ and skin structure.

Of course, Dr. McCarthy is receiving a ton of criticism for his hypothesis. One of them being it is physically impossible for a pig’s sperm to recognize a chimp’s egg as something to be fertilized. Furthermore, pigs and chimps have a different number of chromosomes, making the idea of a monkey-pig hybrid completely unfeasible.

But hey, Galileo received criticism for his hypothesis when he suggested the Earth revolved around the Sun!

Above all, Dr. McCarthy believes that there are striking characteristics of human beings that cannot be explained through our understanding of Darwinian evolution. Perhaps the answer is oinking right at us. Yes, a lot of people think Dr. McCarthy is a quack, but his pointing out the similarities between human and pig does make you realize that we do have a lot in common with the artiodactyla order.

So, what do you think? Do you think there’s any validity to Dr. McCarthy’s argument?

Source: Daily Mail