Why don't apes evolve into humans any more?

Answer 1

Some do whille others do some serious soul-searching and ultimately opt out.

Answer 2

Evolution doesn't work that way.

Evolution is a long process, but it isn't an A to B process - it's not a progression. Many people imagine evolution as a progression from single celled organism to shrimp to fish to frog to lizard to bird to monkey to ape to human - it's not really like that.

Evolution is blind - it's doesn't have a purpose or aim. Organisms undergo mutations - most of which will kill the individual. Those mutation that are in fact adaptations - that benefit the species - will be passed on. If it's advantageous to the reproductive fitness of the species for long enough, it'll become part of the genome.

Most cases of evolution take an extremely long time (there are exceptions - notably that of a moth in industrial England - originally, it was white speckled black, to blend in with birch bark. During the industrial revolution, the trees became blackened with soot. Over just a few moth generations, a sub type which already existed [that's important] which was black speckled white became dominant. As the environment was cleaned up, the situation reversed itself again. But remember, the sub type already existed). Most of the time, people cannot see species 'evolve' (and remember, individuals don't evolve, species do).

The ape is adapted to its environment (mostly - the environment, because of man, is changing quicker than the species can adapt). It is not a 'poor cousin' or a 'lesser being' - it is simply a different being. Remember, we haven't, in any case, evolved from (say) the chimp. Humans and chimps evolved from a common ancestor, but not from each other.

There are many, many book and websites to check out - I'd suggest Wikipedia to start - Stephen J Gould is a good read as well.

Answer 3

Firstly, evolution takes place over millions of years, so in your lifetime, it is unlikely that you will notice many, if any, changes. Secondly, taking that this event did occur, the world has changed since this happened. At the time of the evolutionary process between ape and man, there would have been room for the ape to move about and experience, among other things, different climates, terrain and predators. As with anything, they would have learnt from the new experiences and adapted to their new surroundings, evolving into a different species (we're assuming that the species they adapted into became humans).
Humans have controlled the land they live on since they first walked the land. Originally this would have possibly been basic farming, "slash and burn" techniques (making space for farming and communities in wooded/jungle areas), hunting, etc, etc. With the changes humans made to the planet and the animal population being controlled by them defending themselves or hunting for food, the apes would have stopped having the opportunity to explore, being confined to their current habitat, and have new experiences which could lead to their evolution into different species.

So, it isn't the fact that apes cannot physically evolve anymore, but more the fact that they do not have the opportunity to.

Answer 4

The way to understand this is to remember that living organisms are in a state of constant change - It's not that evolution *can* occur, but that it *must* occur, simply because there is no mechanism in living organisms to ensure perfect, flawless reproduction for ever.

Suppose you could study a population of chimpanzees in the jungle, on a timescale of millions of years. Clearly, each individual only lives a few decades, so the population is constantly being succeeded by individuals which are different from their parents, because reproduction is imperfect - and remember, this is *inevitable*. It can't *not* happen. All the time this population is inter-breeding, the genes are getting mixed together, and only genes which work well with all other chimpanzee genes will tend to get passed down to successive generations (because individuals with genes that don't work well together will tend not to survive and reproduce).

However, suppose that circumstances arise which cause a group to become genetically isolated from other chimpanzees. This could be as a result of an accident of geography (e.g. an impassable river) or breeding preference or simply great distance. There will develop two distinct groups of chimpanzees which can never again exchange genes, because they have become different enough that mating will not produce viable offspring. This is what biologists define as speciation - i.e. the population has forever split into two distinct groups. Biologists have observed many instances of speciation, so there is no doubt that it occurs.

Assuming that both groups continue to survive, it is again *inevitable* that they will diverge genetically - There is no possible way that both groups, isolated and independent from each other, can change in exactly the same ways, and the longer they continue to breed, the more different they will become. Over millions of years, given that the rate of genetic change via mutation tends to remain fairly constant, the two groups will become as distinct as today's chimpanzees and humans are from each other, and from their most recent common ancestor.

All this is based on what we *know* is true - it's not supposition or guesswork, and remember it's not just possible, it absolutely *has* to happen, because there is no mechanism in biology to make reproduction a 100% perfect, flawless process.

NB: The reason we're classed as apes is that there is no valid way to group all the other apes together that doesn't also apply to humans. In other words, whatever criteria you use to define what is an ape, in order to include chimpanzees, gorillas, orangs and gibbons, humans will also fit those criteria. Indeed, chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than to gorillas, and gorillas are more closely related to humans and chimpanzees than they are to orangs, so any classification that separated humans out from those other apes would not make any sense.

Answer 5

Apes never did evolve into humans. Millions of years ago some ape-like creatures evolved into humans and others evolved into apes.
Non-human apes are still adapting and evolving today, sadly it may well not be fast enough for them to survive.

Answer 6

If you follow evolutionary theory then the type of need that forced apes to evolve into humans was created over a very long period of time and the speices of ape adapted to become us.

We are continuing to adapt slowly to our enviornment ( people are getting taller stronger smarter etc)

So in the same way as you have lions and tigers and domestic cats it doesnt follow that a cat will develop into a lion in a million years time as the environment and the strain has adapted and wont reverse.

For example if I have a pie and cut it into four peices and eat some then unless I have the same ingredients and cooking method and recipe then I cant recreate it.

Same with apes different dna different enviounment different evolutionary needs.

Answer 7

The question in itself shows a lack of understanding of evolution. By apes I am assuming that you mean primates other than homosapin. Well they are continuing to evolve as are all species living on the Earth including humans but the speed of evolution covers millions of years, certainly not a human lifetime or for that matter the lifetime of our species. Evolution is ongoing but there is no guarantee that todays primates other than homo sapian will ever develop an intellect comparable to homo sapian but then again there is no guarantee that they will not. Bottom line is that unlike Hollywood we will not be alive to see it and it is doubtful that our children, or grandchildren or great grandchildren will either.

Answer 8

Evolution does not happen in the same way as birth, different circumstances will create different drivers for evolution. Apes are continuing to evolve as are Humans in a million year they will both be different.

Answer 9

Evolution takes time -- and under the pressure of a hostile environment.

So apes probably are still evolving, but not in the easy life of the zoos.

But we do not know the end product.

Answer 10

Humans are still evolving & so by the same token are primates. These things take millions of years. You can't expect to see the changes happening!

Answer 11

The never did. Humans are not descended from apes, we share a common ancestor. If you go back far enough, the ape-like ancestor of modern humans was also the human-like ancestor of modern apes!