if man envolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys arond today?

Question

i couldnt think of anything else and wanted to try this out.

sorry. i spelled "evolved" wrong. what i get for copy and paste-ing. Hey! dont get all hardcore religious on me now . :)

Answer 1

Man actually evolved from hominids. Some hominid families branched off from man's line to form the families of apes and prosimians. Other hominid families evolved into types of hominids that later became extinct (for example Australopithecus Robustus). People have often confused the theory of evolution with the phrase "man evolved from apes or monkeys" which is just not true. It came about as a result of several cartoons lampooning Charles Darwin by depicting him as an ape (since people in the late 19th century misunderstood the theory of evolution as well). Tip of the hat to Charles. :O)

Answer 2

The process of evolution is much misunderstood.

It would be absolutely true that at some point in our respective evolutions man and monkey had a common ancestor that may now be extinct.

Evolution need not be directed change, deliberate change or even purposeful change. As the habitat changes, siblings with certain characteristics survive to procreate. That's what is important, that they procreate and thus pass their special characteristics to succeeding generations.

Thus from the common ancestor many sub-species could survive until environmental changes drive the "unfit" to extinction. It's not strength that counts - lions, tigers and elephants are "unfit" 'cos Man, now exercises his ability to change the the habitat of every other living creature. Nevertheless, he may not be strong enough to wipe out a good many insects.

I can't locate where, in Hamlet, Shakespeare, perhaps sarcastically, talks of how wonderful a creature Man is, but I remember Jonathan Swift's telling carricature of Man as Yahoo in Gulliver's Third Voyage - to Laputa. He resembles an Ape - be disgusted if you must. And before that, the King of Brobdingnag: " (Man is)...the most pernicious little creature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth."

"There are more things, in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Hamlet, again, ...lo!
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P.S. Swift took a lot of interest in Spelling Reform. Shaw left a lot of money for reseach into the subject - but modest Asker has two mistakes in his question: "If", not "if" & "around" , not "arond".

Why does Yahoo take so long to do a spell-check? I've done the post-script while waiting and no doubt antagonised Asker.

The technological world's not perfect, ... lo!

Answer 3

excuse me if this doesn't sense.
the way evolution works is that when a species comes to be under a specific set of circumstances, it adapts over a period of time to better survive and thrive under those circumstances.
so my theory is this. i haven't given it a great deal of thought and i don't know what any leading scientists would say, but i expect that at a certain point, about 4 or 5 million years ago, a group of primates were in such a place as to benefit from becoming more human-like. for example, on the plains of africa, it was convenient to run faster on two legs, so they began to walk more upright. as it happened, this body type worked out well, so the evolved primates (or early humans) spread and populated other regions.
for other primates living all around the world, it was perfectly acceptable to remain in the trees, move with their backs bent, and so forth. they didn't need to evolve, so they didn't. "monkeys" aren't just one population that does everything together and at the same time, just as humans are different. a bad example: in the early years of the american settlements, different areas were populated at different densities. at the beginning, basically everyone was a farmer, but after a while places like new york and boston got busier and more crowded, so it was more economical to move to other trades. this example is skewed because there were hundreds of other factors, but i hope you get the point.

in short, there are still monkeys because the monkeys we have didn't feel the need to evolve. it wasn't what their circumstances required, and evolution is all about adjusting to the environment.

Answer 4

A very long time ago we might have been the same, but at some point in evolution, monkeys went one way while some became mutated ( not in a bad way) and became the ancestors of humans,the australopiticians. So we didn't necessarily evolve from monkeys.

Answer 5

not a single scientist that I know of has said that man evolved from monkeys. There may have been a common ancestor but this cannot be proven at this time. Man could have been a mutation. There is a distinct difference in DNA makeup between man and monkey although admittedly they are very close.

Answer 6

Evolution says that each monkey is just a LITTLE bit different from every other monkey. Those monkies have babies and their babies have babies. Some of the babies of babies of babies look pretty much like every other monkey that came before them. Eventually, there are SOME "monkies" that no longer look quite like their cousins and after a while, they are different enough that we no longer called them monkies. Suppose that there was a new law that said only people over 6 feet tall could marry other people over 6 feet tall. Eventually, their children would all be over 7 feet tall. Then their children would be over 8 feet tall. Would this take a million years? I don't know. Eventually, someone woudl say, "Damn! I don't look like THAT guy," and he'd give "that guy" and everyone who looked like him a new name. The "normal" looking people would still be around, though, and in great numbers, because all those people less than 6 feet tall would still be making short babies.

This is amazingly simplistic, but for someone who can't sleep tonight (me), it's the best I can do.

Answer 7

Man did not evolve from monkeys. Long ago an ancestor of both animals existed then the ancestors pof man evolved from it and the monkeys ancestors evolved from that sdamer anciebnt ancestor. Humans did not come directly from monkeys. With one possible exception. namely my brother's wife's mother. (his mother in law).
D.
D.

Answer 8

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AqqWPXYPtcuPc3chFIxBhyHsy6IX?qid=20060823132944AAhEyRe

the same question asked by some one else

and my answer to that questio was,

there is an unanswered question which is how apes become a man. This year scientists found some apes,i think in south america, who used rocks to break the nuts. scientists are wondering that whether they learnedit from humans or by themselves. because if they learned it by themselevs, they are becoming intelligent like humans, and it will be an evidence for the theory of evolution (of the brain). but i think this evidence like the previous ones won't work.

there are some beliefs about the brain. one is that the brain is evolved by accident. other believe human beigns had many enemies and to find a way to escape, they used their brain alot which caused the evolution of brain. but monkeys did not

Answer 9

Good question. I do not believe man evolved from monkeys. What a disgusting thought.

Answer 10

Man didn't evolve from monkeys. All primates; which include humans, evolved from a common primate-like ancestor.