If we evolved from monkeys how come theres still loads of monkeys knocking about today?

Question

My dad was a gorilla who mated with a cheetah. Im half cat half monkey.

Answer 1

This question's been asked so many times... so how about I ask you a question instead. If you descended from your grandparents, how come you have cousins knocking about today who also descended from your grandparents?

Evolution, like your family tree, isn't a straight line, it is a branching bush. Populations of the same species get separated and evolve independantly, like wolves and dogs.

Answer 2

Clearly you don't understand evolution -- I'd suggest some study on the subject, rather than just believing what ignorant religious fanatics spout about it.

We didn't evolve from monkeys, monkeys (and apes and chimps) and humans have a common ancestor. For that matter, so do humans and elephants, dolphins, and every other mammal. Our evolutionary "split" from the lines of the other primates was more recent (relatively speaking) than from the rest of the mammals, somewhere around 1-2 million years ago. We went our way, they went theirs -- both paths of evolution were successful in allowing the organisms that went different ways to survive, reproduce, and thrive although in different ways. That our split from them was fairly recent shows in the large number of physical characteristics we have in common, and in the similarity of our DNA (humans and chimps have DNA that is around 97% the same).
But remember, all living things are related, and can trace their evolution back to common ancestors -- the great diversity of life on this planet is proof of evolution's reality, and the method of natural selection to let life evolve to fill every niche where life is possible on our earth.

Now go study and learn some more -- it's fascinating stuff.

Answer 3

We did not evolve from contemporary monkeys. We evolved from a common ancestor as modern monkeys.

Evolution is not a simple linear progression through the species. It's a branching bush.

If you really thought such a simple-minded question was an actual flaw in evolutionary theory, don't you think scientists would have thought of that by now?

Answer 4

Totally agree with the other answers! this is a foolish question as it infers that because we evolved from something (common ancestor not monkey) that there should be no other species similar as they would have all evolved into us Why is there hundreds of types of bird, fish, insects! One of each would be enough and they would have evolved into us by way of the monkey anyway

Answer 5

The only reason their is loads of monkeys knocking about today is they are gods animals and he wanted them to be on the earth and that is why their is loads of monkey knocking about but we did not come from monkey we came from apes

Answer 6

Not everyone evolved the same way? Or... they were wise enough to see into the future and decided swinging from trees and eating bananas was better than working 60 hours a week and being miserable?!?! Ok, sorry. Don't know the scientific answer but be interesting to see if anyone else does.

Answer 7

We evolved from different monkeys than those that are knocking about today. Obviously the ones that gave rise to us were the uninteligent ones, otherwise we'd be enjoying ourselves eating bananas and bonking instead of rushing about getting heart attacks and causing wars.

Answer 8

Because we didn't evolve from monkeys any more than you 'evolved' from your next door neighbor.

But if you go back far enough, you'll find that you have a common ancester. Just like we have with the apes.


Doug

Answer 9

We didn't we had a common ancestor and there was a split about 40000 years ago, meaning we've had that amount of time to evolve into us and monkeys have evolved into what they are today

Answer 10

We evolved from apes not monkeys and yes - there are still apes around but there are different 'branches' of the evolutionary tree.