The University of Georgia’s Eugene McCarthy, one of the world’s leading authorities on hybridization in animals, claims humans are descendants of a chimpanzee and pig. The pair had sex and voila! We emerged. The geneticist also points out while humans have features in common with chimpanzees, we also have characteristics not found in any other primates in the animal kingdom including hairless skin, a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, light-coloured eyes, protruding noses and heavy eyelashes.
“What is this other animal that has all these traits?” asks McCarthy, who curates his blog, www.macroevolution.net. “The answer is Sus scrofa, the ordinary pig.”
McCarthy has come under criticism of orthodox evolutionary biologists, but he isn’t backing away from his belief. He concludes, “I must admit that I initially felt a certain amount of repugnance at the idea of being a hybrid. The image of a pig mating with an ape is not a pretty one, nor is that of a horde of monstrous half-humans breeding in a hybrid swarm.
“But the way we came to be is not so important as the fact that we now exist. As every Machiavellian knows, good things can emerge from ugly processes, and I think the human race is a very good thing. Moreover, there is something to be said for the idea of having the pig as a relative.
“My opinion of this animal has much improved during the course of my research. Where once I thought of filth and greed, I now think of intelligence, affection, loyalty, and adaptability, with an added touch of joyous sensuality — qualities without which humans would not be human.”
