If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Answer 1

There are several species of apes one type evolved based upon circumstances, remoteness and to adapt to changing environments. This would mean that the apes that were left behind would evolve in other ways ro stay in statis. This is why many species could share a common ancestor, because due to some circumstance their evolutionary path branched from the main one.

Try this experiment at home. Take a species that has a short life-cycle such as a fruitfly, introduce them several into two closed systems in a tank. Place some stress on one group and you will find that the flies will have changed to overcome the stress over a few generations. The flies in the other tank will not have changed. So apes evolved in one region to deal with some form of environmental stress to enable survival, whereas apes in another area may have had an environment that was in stasis or they could cope with and so they did not evolve.

Answer 2

Because this is a common misconception, usually believed by people who don't want to accept the Theory of Evolution.

In fact, it is perfectly possible for species A to evolve into species B, while species A still exists. Simply put, it is because not *all* the A's evolve into B's.

Let me try and illustrate this with a very simplistic example.

Lets imagine that the A's are a species that are perfectly adapted to live in the forest. Since they are so well adapted to their environment they tend not to evolve - they have no reason to, because any evolutionary changes would make them *less* than perfectly adapted to life in the forest.

As time passes the number of A's increase and they spread out to occupy more and more of the forest until they occupy every part of it. Numbers continue to increase and eventually some A's are forced by a lack of space to move out onto the grasslands.

Now the A's living on the grassland are no longer perfectly adapted to live in their environment, so they may (in fact they probably *will*) start to adapt to their new environment. For example, perhaps the ability to see over the grass to spot predators may help them to survive. So the A's learn to stand up on their hind legs to look over the long grass. Being tall would be an advantage as well.

So, the taller and better at standing on their hind legs the A's are, the more likely they are to survive to give birth to the next generation and the next generation will be more likely to inherit their parents "tallness" and skill at standing on their hind legs.

Over many, many generations the A's living on the grassland will be much taller than the A's still living in the forest and will tend to walk on their hind legs, unlike the forest dwelling A's. At this point we would say that the A's living on the grassland are sufficiently different from the A's living in the forest that we should give them a different name; B's for example.

Thus, the B's evolved from the A's, but both exist at the same time.

If a climatic change meant that the grassland turned suddenly into desert - so quickly that the B's had no chance to adapt to the change - then the B's might die out and become extinct. So we could even have a situation where the B's have evolved from the A's, but while the B's have become extinct, the A's still exist.

It's all so beautifully simple when you look at it. That's why I believe that the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection seems like the most likely explanation for the diversity of life on Earth today.

Answer 3

People not only evolved from apes, they *are* apes.

We didn't evolve from any extant ape species, but rather we share a common ancestor - divergent evolution has led to the development of different species of apes.

We still have a variety of ape species extant today because each species is adapted to fill a specific biological niche. As long as the niche exists and a species is the best adapted species to exploit it, that species will continue to exist.

It's really not that complex to grasp, especially once you let go of the wildly inaccurate notion that evolution is a linear, directed process. It's just a response to change.
Besides, this question gets asked all the time - you'd be better off saving your points and looking at some older questions. The answer isn't going to change any time soon.

Answer 4

Technically, we still are apes....Check 'The Naked Ape' by Desmond morris.

But I know what your getting at and its as simple as this....

We left the forests and evolved.......present day apes stayed right where they were and did not need to evolve much further than the point they were at.

Answer 5

If American people came from Europeans, why are there still Europeans?
If you're descended from your grandfather, how can you have cousins?
These questions make as much sense as yours. Humans and the other ape species share a common ancestor.

Answer 6

Evolutionists claim that we did not evolve from an ape but that we have a common ancestor. Kind of splitting hairs because that alleged ancestor would be ape-like.

The idea that we are related to apes is a fairy tale peddled by atheists to the unsuspecting public.
The whole notion of evolution is easily refuted in so many ways.
Every hominid fossil found so far is either clearly human of clearly ape. Some anthropologists are so keen to find the missing link that they resort to fraud and wishful thinking. A pile of ape bones and a vivid imagination does make a human!

People who claim we are related to apes have a lot of explaining to do - see link

Answer 7

Read a little, or read more carefully - humans and apes evolved from common ancestors.

Answer 8

branching in evolution. some apes advanced, others didn't. it is a genetic thing. think about this- dogs evolved from wolfs, why are there still wolfs?

Answer 9

You and your cousins come from the same great-great-great grand father.

He is long gone.

All of you are now here.

The apes of today are our cousins, our comon ancestor lived several million years ago.

Answer 10

Exactly, I think both apes/ chimpanzees both evolved from one creature....now there are the two main groups...humans and apes. If something evolved from another being, then surely the other being would no longer exist.