2006-06-24 06:17:36 · 17 answers · asked by myraa. ☮ 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
to put it in very simple terms, all primates (humans, apes, etc. etc.) have descended from a common ancestor. its is like the common ancestor was walking when he came to a fork in the road and split into two groups......over millions of years this process kept happening. the phenomenon is known as speciation.....where one population of individuals of the same species gets spilt and are kept apart for so long that over millions of years they become so different due to genetic mutations that they are no longer one species.
another analogy, similar to a fork in the road, is the branching of a tree. so you basically get the idea of what happens. well....for a monkey to 'evolve into a human' its would first have to regress to the common ancestor and then follow the path of the humans. and it is not a conscious effort that can do it but only conditions of nature and natural selection.
it is possible for the 'monkey' to evolve into a creature that resembles humans(though not genetically), but i think thats as far as it will get.
hope this answers your question
2006-06-25 10:19:05 · answer #1 · answered by curiosity_kills 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
You start from a wrong premise: we did not "use to be" primates, we _are_ Primates and always have been.
All the species alive today have their own evolutionary history. Homo sapiens did not evolve from any of the extant primate species. In addition, the future evolution of any living being depends upon the interaction of many factors, including their previous history and their environment.
Surely there could be other primates to develop human-like characteristics, but any similarities will be convergences or parallelisms driven by evolutionary forces, because no species "becomes" another extant species.
2006-06-25 10:35:22 · answer #2 · answered by Calimecita 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How could some people think that we are not primates? 'Primate' is the name of an order to which humans, apes, monkeys, lemurs, etc belong. People... we ARE primates!
And about the question...
Each 'monkey' (a cute name for the over 200 living species...) fills an unique niche, but species are very flexible, as the environment that 'shapes' them, so maybe in millions of year one kind of monkey can change so much and become a human-like animal...
But, aren't them already human-like? isn't it because we are related?
Hooray to evolution :)
2006-06-24 16:03:46 · answer #3 · answered by Pawqara 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.
You misunderstand what is meant by 'primates'. Primates does not mean monkeys. It means an animal similar to apes, humans, lemurs, and monkeys.
Humans evolved from something similar to what we are now, perhaps something like Homo Erectus. But our only relation to monkey's would be an ancient ancestor that all primates share.
Therefore, monkey's can't become human because we didn't become human from monkeys.
2006-06-24 17:06:49 · answer #4 · answered by Jackson V 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans & monkeys ARE both primates. They are simply different species that evolved from common ancestors before that.
2006-06-24 13:22:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
We cannot say for sure. We evolved from creatures which are now extinct. We cannot say at this stage what present day apes or monkeys or even humans will evolve to in the future.
2006-06-24 13:21:41 · answer #6 · answered by ag_iitkgp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans were never primates, but if that were true, I would have to say we are already a bunch of crazy apes.
2006-06-24 15:29:24 · answer #7 · answered by My Avatar 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All living forms are still evolving, primates are no exception, will they become human? no! their DNA configuration will not lead them to become humans they will evolve into intelligent creatures? that's a good question. t may happen, why not? it would be nice to have other intelligent species co-living with us in this planet.Think also on the possibility of dolphins evolving towards a new intelligent species also. I liked your question. thanks!
2006-06-24 13:27:56 · answer #8 · answered by Guillermo S 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ALthough we are/are related to primates we are still genetically different, so whether or not they are primates, they will probably not turn into humans unless they drastically mutate
2006-06-24 13:21:52 · answer #9 · answered by Damien S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Last year scientists found the bones of what they recognized as a new species of hominid that lived as recently as 12,000 years ago. They named it Homo floresiensis, and its three foot stature earned it the nickname the Hobbit. All of the reconstructions I've seen until now have shown the Hobbit standing upright--which you might expect of a hominid that descended from upright ancestors (perhaps Homo erectus or even the more primitive Australopithecus).
2006-06-24 13:27:11 · answer #10 · answered by dhaarvi2002 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋