Short Stuff: The Lost (?) Continent of Lemuria | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey, and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh. There's Chuck. Dave's not here. Jerry's here. And I'll tell you who else. is here is Philip Schlott, his ghost. He's a 19th century British. zoologologist. And he's um come across. the plane of existence to be here with. us today. >> I think you added an H in there, my. friend. >> Slater. >> Yeah. >> He always wished his name was. Schlaughter. Yeah, we're talking about Philip uh.

Slater. I guess that's even that's a. weird name. I like Schlatter better, too. >> Sure. >> Uh because he took part in uh something. that was going on in the mid 19th. century where. people were trying to figure out where. stuff came from that didn't seem like it. belonged there, like in their country. Like why is this animal here when they. were from another continent or this. plant? That doesn't make a lot of sense. So, we've talked about this stuff before. in terms of like land bridges and things.

like that, but he wrote a book in 1864. called The Mammals of Madagascar. No. colon, just clean and simple. >> Good for you, Schlater. >> Where he wondered like Madagascar is off. the east coast of Africa and they have. dozens of species of lemurs, but uh all. of Africa and India have only a few. species of lemur. And in fact, it was. worse than that. They don't have any. species of lemur. He was just mistaken. and thought some other big eyeduh. primates were lemurs. >> But he was on the right track as far as.

saying like what happened here. And he. said I know what it was. There used to. be a a great continent that connected. these things and that's how they got. there. And that thing is now underwater. And I'm even going to name it Laamria. >> Yeah. After his lemur friends. >> Yeah. Yeah. And this was um the reason. that he was coming up with an idea like. this. And he wasn't the only one. Apparently land bridges were very much. in vogue at the time. Um because we. didn't understand like you were saying.

how like a plant could be on one. continent and also on another and we. hadn't figured out continental drift. yet. That didn't really get traction. until the 1920s. >> So this was an attempt to explain that. before the theory of continental drift. came along or drifted along. And um this. this continent of Laamria supposedly was. on the bottom of the Indian Ocean now, but basically spanned from India all the. way to Africa. And Slater. Schlater. Yeah. Uh he basically said.

this is where lemurs originated and then. they spread out from there. Case closed. And we should say like it seems off to. us now, but this is a legitimate man of. science. >> proposing a legitimate hypothesis that. may or may not have been able to be. tested. I don't I'm not sure. Um but. like it wasn't meant to be crackpot. It. was the crackpots who took it and turned. it into a crackpot theory. >> Yeah, exactly. It kind of gained. traction in other circles and we're.

going to talk about a few of those. Uh. there was one guy, a German biologist. named Ernst Heckle, and he wrote a book. called History of Creation. No colon. They didn't have colons back then. >> No, they invented the colon with the. continental drift theory. >> That's right. Uh he had a theory about. evolution that kind of flew in the face. of Darwin where he said, "You know what? this uh Laamria place that that my uh. comrade Sklater came up with. Um I think. not only was that a place, but that was.

where it all started. That's the cradle. of mankind and humanity. Uh there were. 12 varieties of men and the first humans. evolved from ancient primates uh and. spread from there and they did so from. Laamria, >> right? Um, I mean, this is problematic. through and through, but it's also worth. saying that Heel himself was a respected. man of science, too. Uh, he was a, um, very accomplished, one of those guys. who's like, I'm a biologist. No, I'm a. geologist. Now I'm a geographer. What.

else you want me to be? He was one of. those dudes who really contributed to. science. But again, at the time, this. was like it just seems to be like. crackpot theories to us now. Um, but. they were still just trying to explain. what they were seeing. Uh, and it just. turned out to be kind of wrong. One of. the big problems with it was that he. based it on Lamria, which there was no. evidence aside from, you know, oh well, it kind of explains why this plant's. here, this lemur is on this continent, and these lemurs are on this continent.

There was no evidence for it whatsoever. So, it's probably faulty to really start. basing other hypotheses on this. hypothetical sunken continent, >> right? Especially when there weren't. even really lemurs at all in either. India or Africa. >> Yeah. >> Should we take a break? >> Yep. >> All right, we'll be right back. [Music].

Uh, you mentioned Darwin. Um, I can't. remember what you said about Heckel, but. I just imagined uh Heckel like B Boy. dancing up to Darwin and like running. his hand like waving his hand in between. their faces. You know how they do that. and then dancing off? I can't remember.

what you said, but it triggered that. image and it cracked me up. So, thanks. for that, Chuck. >> Yeah, kind of that it just flew in the. face of what Darwin thought. And. apparently Darwin was not a fan of this. any of the these theories about. continents just sinking. >> No, he would shoot his TV when it was. mentioned on the news. >> He wrote a letter to a guy named Charles. Lyall who's a geologist who also uh. thought that continent sank. He said, "If there, this is such a a a nerd burn. If there be a lower region for the. punishment of geologists, I believe my. great master, you will go there.

>> And Charles Lyel, worth saying, respected man of science, too. >> That's right. You know who was not. >> I do. Tell everybody. uh a woman named Helena Blavatzki uh who. was a 19th century Russian occultist and. she founded something called the. Theosophical Society uh that believed. that uh religion or science hadn't fully. captured the full truth of the origins. of Earth which I'm like yeah I'm down. with that. Uh but she thought through. psychic gifts that people like herself.

could access that lost wisdom and that's. where she lost me. Mhm. And there's. actually few people that fully embody. everything I scorn like Helena Bllovsky. does. >> Yeah. >> Um she wrote a book called The Secret. Doctrine came out in 1888 and by this. time Lamria is not it's no longer like. it's out of the realm of science. It's. now into the new age movement. Uh the. theosophists it was the movement that. Bloatsky um Madame Bllovszky helped.

found. Um, and I think it was also the. basis of spiritualism too. We did a. whole episode on spiritualism. She. played a big role in that. But that. whole trend of like going to seances and. stuff in the Victorian age. She helped. kick that off. And in this book, The. Secret Doctrine, she was saying, "Hey, I've read Ernest Hankle before." So, I. kind of understand his idea that Laia. was the cradle of civilization. He said. that there's 12 varieties of men. I'm. going to say instead that there's seven.

I'm going to call them root races. And. Lamura in particular was home to the. third root race. And people said, "Well, what's the third root race?" And she. said, "Read on, dear reader." And in the. next passage, she said that they're. gigantic humans. They were w who were. hermaphroditic and laid eggs, but. because we're evolved from them, they. eventually um uh grew distinct sexual. organs. >> Moving on. >> Yeah. >> Uh yeah. Yeah. I mean, do we even need.

to comment on that besides it's. hysterical? >> Yeah. I don't even find it hysterical. Like, it's just, man. Yeah. >> No, I'm with you. But this is the 19th. century, so you know. >> Yeah. But have you been on YouTube. lately? This is so. >> like of the moment still, too. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean Lamria, if you if you. look it up online, there's a lot of. newagy sites that are talking about uh. Laamria and uh you know, you can buy. Laamrian crystals and things like that. uh to you know, for the low low price of.

$25, that kind of thing. Um I think what. is interesting is this final sort of. twist to the story uh back in India uh. when it was a a colony of the Brits. Um. there were some ethnologists from. Britain who were at the time they were. really fascinated like where did the the. original Indians come from here? um they. have they're so diverse racially and. ethnically like what were the was the. original ancestry and they really honed. in on the uh Dravidian speaking people.

in southern India. Uh, one of the. languages, Dravidians, was a was a. language family. And one of those uh, people that spoke one of those language. were the uh, Tamil people. T- A M I L. And one theory was, oh, those people. were the first people and they were from. Laamria. >> Yes. Um, so the Tamil people really love. that. They actually had a legend already. of some I think it's a Hindu legend. about uh Kumari kandam and it's a lost.

civilization or um under the sea under. the Indian Ocean. So they're like. they're really kind of jibes. Hey. everybody, we're from Lamria. That makes. us the oldest civilization which makes. us the most civilized civilization. Eat. that. >> Yeah. And thus have the oldest language. Eat that as well. And apparently today. even uh if you are uh I would want to. say Tamilleon but I guess just Tamille.

um there's still apparently this sort of. fascination with this sort of lost world. that they their original people came. from and they like populated planet. Earth. >> Yeah. So yeah, I find that more charming. than newagy stuff even though. >> Yeah. Botsky. >> Yeah, I know. Um Yeah. Wow. How much. have we like evolved over time? Remember. how we used to just be totally into 40. and stuff and like unexplained stuff and. like our minds were open and we were.

curious and we wouldn't poo poo stuff. and now we're just like. >> Yeah. Madame Blovaria. Bavaria. Blovatki. >> Mhm. >> Lamria. >> Mhm. >> I'm confused now. >> Lamatski. Schlam. Schlamazle. >> The short stuff out. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple. Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].