random thought: fat, and the connection to our aquatic ancestors

I believe it has been fairly well established that calories in versus calories out factors largely in weight loss/gain, but different bodies do seem to respond differently to the same diets. The variable seemingly to be individual bio-chemistry. How about this idea for consideration?

Some of you may have heard of the 'aquatic ape' theory as an alternative to the regularly accepted evolutionary theory that today's humans are descendants of land dwelling apes/chimps. I won't get into the entire theory (if you'd like to learn more about it, check out this video on TED.com - http://tiny.cc/aquaticape), but one fact in its support may apply here: that only aquatic mammals, or descendants of aquatic mammals, have the ability to store fat in a layer of the outer skin. Apes, chimps, etc., can only store fat inside the body, and despite the diet you feed them, cannot become obese as humans can.

So perhaps, if this theory were to be correct, one could conceive that some of us may still be wired to carry more fat outside the body than inside. Or, perhaps some of us are simply prone to store more fat, period, or retain it more easily.

After all, whales and sea lions live on diets of krill (shrimp-like) and fish, food sources that we would likely consider to be part of a healthy, low fat/carb diet. Yet, these mammals maintain an extremely high ratio of fat to muscle. Perhaps it’s the sheer amount of food they consume. Or, perhaps it’s that their bodies are simply designed to convert more food into fat to survive in their environments. Maybe it’s both? Maybe some of us still carry around an evolutionary trait that was orginially deisgned to help keep us warm in cold water environments.

Just another idea to throw into the ring. Thoughts?