They should right..!? cause if they did at some point in time..why should htey stop now..? shouldnt there be atleast a man of one of the phases in stone age present today..!?why not.?
2006-08-17 03:04:47 · 26 answers · asked by simi 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
Humans didn't evolve from the apes you see today. Humans and other primates have a common ancestor from millions of years ago.
Modern apes might evolve into something humanlike in another few million years!
2006-08-17 03:09:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Let me try to explain this one like my 9th grade Bio teacher explained to me...
In evolution, in theory, every organism at one point came from the same ancestor. This was most likely a small, single celled living being. As climate conditions changed the population began to break up and disperse.
For this next part keep in mind that everything has DNA and it varies slightly for different traits even in the same species. Since traits varied some of the organisms were better adapted for certian climates (like, those with thick blubber could survive cold better than those with less blubber). Since organisms that didn't have desirable traits would die and not reproduce, while those better adapted would have offspring the genes for better adaption would be passed on while less desirable died off. Eventually this created a new species.
Of course, this happened in all different areas so different adaptions thrived creating all different species of life.
And my answer now that I've explained it to you:
Humans never evolved FROM apes. They have a common ancestor to us. Some where along the line humans and apes were something else (the same thing) when the population got split up and isolated. We both evolved in different directions, creating two different species.
Do I believe that apes in zoos still evolve? No probly not. Why? Because their existance isn't threatened enough that some force is killing the ones not well adapted. If say, we only feed the apes with a certain trait and only breed those ones and not the other ones in the zoo the others would die and after enough generations we'd have special "zoo apes," or a new species.
But keep in mind this takes thousands if not millions of years.
2006-08-17 10:22:51 · answer #2 · answered by RoyGBiv456 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, a speciation event such as man's evolution from apes (while humans did not evolve from any of the living species of modern ape, the common ancestor of man and modern apes was DEFINITELY an ape itself) only happens one time.
That speciation event, shaped through the environmental factors and competition present on the African savannah six to eight million years ago on the genetic variability extant within the local population of those specific troops of hominoids present at that moment in time would never occur again.
Even if selective pressures on ape populations today favoured the development of another sentient species of ape, that species would not be Homo sapiens. That would be like expecting your daughter to give birth to your grandfather again. It doesn't happen.
If a chimpanzee or gorilla in a zoo today did give birth to a human, that would be totally against everything predicted by the theory of evolution, and would be good reason to suspect that the theory is incorrect. The fact that it doesn't happen is evidence that the theory as we understand it now is correct.
I have no idea what you mean by "a man of the phases in stone age".
If you mean an individual of one of the earlier species of hominid, such as an Australopithecine, Homo erectus, or something like a Neandertal, then there is nothing in the theory of evolution that says that these species must be extinct. It is just the misfortune of the developments of time that has left us as the sole surviving species of the lineage. There is some evidence that some off-shoots of human species (the so-called hobbit man, or Homo floriensis) may have survived until only a few thousand years ago in some remote areas. Others have speculated that creatures like Yeti or Sasquatch may represent surviving species of the lineage other than our own. Many times in the past history of our species, there has been two or more living species of man existing at the same time. Unfortunately, they have all gone extinct at the present time.
2006-08-17 16:49:08 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Why should they? Go back some 15 million years in time and you find the primates that are the common ancestors of all modern apes. So you might think that in 15 million years, the zoo apes will look like, humans, orangutans, gibbons, gorillas, whatever. But why should they? Zoo apes are not subject to natural selection only since humans decide which apes to use for breeding. Maybe the zoos will breed different gorilla races just like different gold fish races, god races etc. have been bred by humans.
2006-08-17 10:39:45 · answer #4 · answered by helene_thygesen 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, people will not evolve out of an ape in a zoo.
Understand that people AND current apes evolved from primate ancestors millions of years ago which no longer exist.
Sometime in the future, modern apes could evolve into something like humans, but Nature doesn't tend to repeat designs so the chances of an ape evolving into a human again is very slim.
It's more appropriate to think of humans and current apes (like gorillas and chimps) as very, very distant cousins. Chimps and gorillas were not our ancestors.
2006-08-17 10:13:40 · answer #5 · answered by slynx000 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
OK, I'll type slowly so you can understand. This little ancestor went extinct but certain numbers of it's descendants had traits that kept them alive, allowed them to survive. What you see today are the best so far. You want to see evolution? Simply check the average height of humans from a couple of hundred years ago. Let's see, maybe gravity is getting weaker? Survival of the fittest, and better adaptation through the chance called mutation mean the ancestors don't have the capabilities to hang on in the changing world so THEY DIE OUT......leaving the offspring, or the offspring of the offspring of the offspring. To expect a chimpanzee to produce a human is, what's the word I'm looking for, oh yeah, ******.
2006-08-17 23:17:44 · answer #6 · answered by Ice 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are absolutely right. men still do evolve (the use of the term evolve here is debatable though) from apes in zoos, and some even go on to stand for presidential elections and win . . . twice. and wage wars on unsuspecting apes from neighbouring zoos with wmd (that's ape talk for 'he's got more bananas')
2006-08-17 11:05:52 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
of course not they developed from a different type of primate who no longer exist because they evolved into humans. Humans on the other hand do evolve and it is no visible throughout the history of time. We see people are getting taller, living longer, our appendix is no longer needed niether is our tonsils. Evolutions has caused that. The current apes are evovling also but probably not into humans but into other creatures to help them survive.
2006-08-17 10:10:15 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, but they're considering adding some Creationists as an example of the new theory of Devolution. As the volume of knowledge and understanding of the universe grows, these strange creatures intentionally reject progress in science and cling ever closer to ancient superstition; until they actually display *less* intellectual flexibility and coping strategies than their ancestors. It's only a matter of time until they revert to the literal flinging of dung (as opposed to the verbal form they're so famous for).
2006-08-17 13:33:15 · answer #9 · answered by dukefenton 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think you don't understand the concept of evolution.
The human race is still evolving (changing)...it's an on going process. Animals (humans included) evolve to adapt to their environments.
What you seem to be asking is if apes can suddenly turn into humans. Your question makes no sense. You missed something along the way.
2006-08-17 10:12:03 · answer #10 · answered by lilly 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋