If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?

Question

They say that we evolved fron monkeys.But if that is true, then why are there still monkeys?Shouldn´nt they have evolved yet like our ancestors did?

Answer 1

we didnt evolve from the species of monkeys you see today. we evolved from the homo sapiens, they existed around the same time as the neaderthols but the neanderthos species died out, we dont share any of the same blood with the neanderthols.
before them there was the homo erectus, the first fully upright species of human, but they died out, and more before them.

skin color, the shape of our eyes, developed over thousands of years depending upon climate and other variable conditions.

monkeys are evolved from other species of primates, we are not primates we are sapien sapiens, evolved only from the homo sapiens.

Answer 2

Can you please cite a reliable scientific source that says that humans evolved from monkeys? You can't, can you? That's because this is a myth put forth by creationists to explain what evolution is. And some people choose to blidnly believe it rather than find out what evolution actually is and what the theory says.

Basic answer, evolutionary theory states that humans and monkeys evolved from a common ancestor. They broke off at different times from this ancestor and evolved as their own line.

So you have species primate 1 who is around for awhile. Eventually, primate species "A" breaks off - they become old world monkeys (think baboons). Species Primate 1 is still around and a million years later, Primate species "B" breaks off and they become the great apes. Primate 1 is still hanging around and eventually evolves into Homo sapien sapien. It went through many different trial runs, but eventually ended up here, sitting in front of the computer on a Friday night.


In Layman's terms, you didn't evolve from monkeys any more than you were created by your 25th cousins, thrice removed. 50 generations back you may have had the same ancestor, but that does not make those cousins any significant relation to you.

Answer 3

Humans did NOT evolve from monkeys. Humans have evolved from an early species of ape (..apes and monkeys are entirely different species). There are apes today though, so your question is still valid. Any tree has branches on it, but the tree is still there. Think of human ancestry as being like a tree with branches.

Answer 4

Nearly 2000 years ago, there was a very powerful empire that ruled most of Europe. They were called the Romans, and imposed their language around them. That language was Latin.

A few hundred years later, and Latin was no more. Depending on where you looked, the original language had changed to Italian, French, Romanche, Spanish and Portugese, among others.

See where this is amining?

Imagine Latin is the primitive ape. It diversified. Lets assume that Portuguese is like modern man, Spanish is the gorilla, French is chimp, Romanche is Neanderthal -- very little Romanche is left, and no Neanderthal so we can say that is perhaps close enough for the analogy, Italian is the gibbon.

What evolution says is that man evolved from primitive ape. Those were replaced by human being and more modern apes, that are better adapted to their respective environment.

Answer 5

Evolution is not linear. Example....two monkey brothers, way back when, go their separate ways. One of the monkey's offspring thrive in its new location, so this "family" stays monkeys. The second monkey enters an environment lending itself to evolutionary change. This monkey's "family" evolves into humans. Both have evolved from the same species of monkey, but one of them stayed monkeys, and the other evolved.

Answer 6

That's like saying "If I'm descended from my grandparents, why do I have cousins?"

Besides, humans didn't evolve from monkeys.  Humans and monkeys evolved from a common ancestor.  The great-ape lineage is a lot closer to humans than actual monkeys; our most recent common ancestor was a lot later.

Answer 7

Actually we didn't evolve from monkeys but actually a member of the ape family....Not the ones you see today but ones that were related to that family of animals. Saying that we evolved directly from apes would be like saying the hawk evolved directly from Tyrannosaurus Rex.

PS Just because I think that we evolved doesn't mean I don't believe in God either....I just think that God created us in an image that we don't remember and the earth worked it's magic on us to make us what we are today. I'm sorta weird that way.

Answer 8

Excellent question. Humans evolved from monkey species that moved from the tropical forests and out onto the grassy plains. These species needed to continuously get onto their feet to look for predators. They evolved in this fashion as compared to species that remained in the forest. Environments can shape species that eventually fill them. Its a very complex question and this is a very simple explanation.
Good luck.

Answer 9

There are different kinds of monkeys, we're just a different more evolved form of the monkey.

Answer 10

If you're smart enough to answer this question:

"If Americans first came from Europe, why are there still Europeans?"

Then you have your answer.

Namely, just because *some* Europeans became Americans, doesn't mean *all* Europeans became Americans. Europe is still a good place to live.

(And yes, ... please get it straight ... humans did not evolve from monkeys ... humans and monkeys have a common ancestor, which is *not* still around.)

Answer 11

While we didn't evolve from monkeys, monkeys exist because they are extremely suited to their environment. How long do you think a human could survive in the Jungle? Monkeys would have very little problem but a human would likely die.