2006-08-23 09:29:44 · 21 answers · asked by jess916 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Because humans did not evolve from monkeys - humans and monkeys both evolved from a common primate ancestor. There's a crucial difference in those two statements that many seem to miss.
2006-08-23 09:33:15 · answer #1 · answered by JBTexas 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
To start with, humans did not evolve from monkeys! But if they did the reasons they did not all evolve would be location environment. Animals evolve because of changes in their environment. It is a slow process and it happens as the weather and terrain change the animals that survive pass their genes to there offspring and so on. After a while the species in that area are different.
2006-08-23 09:39:22 · answer #2 · answered by 55 and trying 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We didn't evolve from monkeys, we evolved from a common ancestor of hominids and apes. This common ancestor would have belonged to a group of species that in turn shared a common ancestor with monkeys. Monkeys are evolving. Nothing evolves "into" something else on purpose. Evolution simply adapts species to their natural environment and increases their fitness for that environment over long periods of time. Modern monkeys are probably much more suited to their environment than monkeys of 12 million years ago, because they've had that much longer to evolve.
2006-08-23 09:33:59 · answer #3 · answered by stevewbcanada 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Once more from the top.
Species do not evolve. A populations within a species does, because a mutation proves more advantageous to the environment they are in.
Most monkeys still find themselves adequately adapted for their environment, so the change may actually put them at a disadvantage and they would not survive. This does not relate to our ancestors directly, but think of one of the small marmosets. If the next generation were to suddenly double in weight, they may have trouble finding food.
Have a look for "ring species" on the internet to see how new species evolve, that will probably answer your question better than I can.
2006-08-23 09:36:08 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Different species. We are on one branch of the evolutionary tree, monkeys are on another. Cockroaches and alligators haven't changed (evolved) in millions of years. What happened to the Neanderthal? Did Homo-sapien compete them out of existence?
Were we even related? Back in the good ol' days when we were all monkeys we competed amongst ourselves. Some of us moved ahead while others stayed behind. These occurrences are largely due to environment and eating habits. The big jump came when we began to eat meat. Monkeys are vegetarians. Meat gave us protein which gave us bigger, better brains. Birds evolved from reptiles. Why are reptiles not flying today? Not everybody wins the lottery.
2006-08-23 10:24:45 · answer #5 · answered by dudezoid 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They (the monkeys) did and still are. The ancestors of New World Monkeys split off off from the ancestors of Old World monkeys, apes and humans. Next, the ancestors of apes and humans (primates) split off from Old World Monkeys. Next, the ancestors of humans and chimpanzees split off from the rest of the apes, and finally, our ancestor split off from chimpanzees.
In each case, the animals in the other group also continued to evolve as well. Just think about how many different types of Old world and New World monkeys you see on in zoos and on TV. Also, there are actually two species of chimpanzees, one of which, the Bonobo) split off from the other.
Evolution isn't a ladder where you step from one rung to another. It is a bush with countless branches and sub-branches. Some of which finally reach the edge, while others wither and die.
2006-08-23 09:44:05 · answer #6 · answered by soulrider 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because that link is broken. The species of monkeys which eventually evolved into human is no longer moving on earth.
2006-08-23 09:34:46 · answer #7 · answered by Naazneen D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Humans evolved from the same extinct (ancestral) monkeys as the extant (currently living) monkeys did.
Presumably, extant monkeys live in an environment more similar to the extinct ancestral monkeys than we do. Thus the myth of humans evolving from extant monkeys.
Extant monkeys probably still live in the trees because they are better at living in forests than any of us.
2006-08-23 09:36:55 · answer #8 · answered by BugsBiteBack 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
They have.
We didn't evolve from modern monkeys.
We share a common ancestor with modern apes and monkeys, we are not their direct descendents.
But, there is in fact no necessary reason for an animal to evolve, if it is well suited to a particular stable environment. If the lineage that evolved into humans simply branched off (because of moving to a new location, for example), the original parent species could, in principle, remain unchanged.
So even if we did evolve directly from modern Chimpanzees, for example, there is no conflict with evolutionary theory.
2006-08-23 09:33:29 · answer #9 · answered by Zhimbo 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The point is we evolved from monkey/ape like creatures not the actual monkeys and apes we see in the wild today. Perhaps if contemporary apes are subject to influences such as our ancestors experienced they might eventually evolve into something like us. Hope you aren't fooled by any of this Creationism nonsense.
2006-08-23 09:38:40 · answer #10 · answered by Hoof Arted 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋