If we evolved from monkeys why are there still monkeys?

Answer 1

It is no surprise that the people most critical of evolution are also the most ignorant of what it is.

Why wouldn't there be monkeys?

Every year we get new strains of the flu virus, but the old ones remain.

We didn't evolve from modern monkey; we evolved from a common pirmate ancestor. Had we evolved from monkeys, it only means we evolved from some monkeys. The rest of the monkeys could evolve into something else, or continue on.

Answer 2

1. We did not evolved from monkeys. Gorillas, chimpanzees and humans evolved all from a common ancestror, who in turn evolved form a common ancestror to all mammals, who in turn evolved from a common ancestror to all vertebrates and so on.

2. Evolution is not a matter of believing it or not. The same happen to penicillin: it will save your life from fatal infection even if you do not believe in it. And the same happens to gravity: you might not believe in it but I advise you not to step out your window.

3. No one can have been taught that this is a defect on evolution theory, because it is not. If you have been taught so, then consider that you have been taught by someone who did not know what he was speaking about.

4 Even if humans had evolved from monkeys, lets say chimpanzees, there would not be any problem with them still existing. Evolution occurs through mutation. Some mutations could have been ocurred that made some chimpanzees slighty different; let's say more able to survive in open ground than in forest. Eventually a population of the chimpanzees will stay living in the forest, while the slighty different one will settle in the open ground, the savahna. The chimpanzees in the forest and the ones in the savahna will stop interbreeding because of geographical separation. Eventually chimpanzees in the forest would remain chimpanzees, while chimpanzees in the savahna will further evolve into humans. This did not happen in the case of humans but would have been possible, and in fact happens in the evolution of many other species.

Answer 3

Because they evolved from our common ancestor too. The great apes, including chimpanzees, are stronger than us humans. (A 180-pound chimp would wipe the floor with a 180-pound wrestler.) The others are smaller and more nimble that we are. (Watch a gibbon swinging through the trees, but don't try to imitate him, unless you have an affinity for broken bones.)

Here is a little something extra for you:

Back in 1776, monarchists argued against democracy as a form of government. They said it was absurd to believe that "All men are created equal" because anyone could see men came in different heights, weights and colors. Case closed.

My point is not about democracy. It is about debate. Before you argue about something, you should understand it. If you don't understand it, you'll look foolish. Gilda Radner, on the original "Saturday Night Live" TV Show, used to do a sketch every couple of weeks in which she made completely ridiculous arguments. One night she argued vehemently against the "Deaf Penalty", instead of the "Death Penalty". She looked absurd, which was the point, and we all laughed until the beer came out our noses, which was what she wanted. You don't want people to laugh at you.

In a serious debate, you should understand the other side. Note that I didn't say "Believe". Understanding is not the same as believing. If you were to study 20th century European Political history, you would have to understand several forms of government: communism (the USSR), fascism (Germany, Italy), socialism (Lots of countries), socialist democracy, capitalistic democracy and constitutional monarchy. You would not believe in all of them; you could not believe in all of them at once. If you tried, your head would explode. You would, however, have to understand their basic concepts.

If you were to study comparative religion, you would have to understand what Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Confucians believe. You would not have to convert to a new religion every week, but you would have to understand the other ones. You would not get very far in your studies if you dismissed all the other ones as "wrong". They believe their path is the right one just as strongly as you believe your path is the right one.

99% of the biologists alive today believe that species evolve, and that the theory of evolution is the best explanation we have for the diversity of life. Christian biologists, Jewish biologists, Muslim biologists, Hindu biologists, Buddhist biologists; Australian, Bolivian and Chinese biologists; 99% of them believe it is the best explanation. Yes, it is only a theory. Planetary motion - the theory that the earth went around the sun, not vice versa - was only a theory for a long time. Some people still don't believe it. Their eyes tell them differently.

Species don't evolve at the same rate and they don't all have to evolve. Alligators, to take one example, haven't changed much for 40 million years. The ones that were 50 feet long have become extinct, but the normal 14-footers are still there in the swamps, hoping men don't shoot them to use their hides for shoes. They didn't have to worry about that 3 million years ago. We humans are at the top of the heap today, either because we evolved or God liked us better than He did the alligators. Either way, we can make tools better than any other species.

Your question has been answered, hundreds of times, by people more versed in biology than I. It gets answered ever week here at YA.

If you are truly curious, ask your minister to give you a short, reasoned explanation of evolution. If he says he can't because it is wrong, he is as ignorant as those monarchists I mentiond above.

Answer 4

its not that we were evolved from monkeys, our ancestors re some primates which are still to be confirmed, taking ur question its not that during the evolution all the monkeys would hav got converted to human beings it would have been that due to some unfavourable coditions at some particular place for proper adaptation there would have been some changes in monkeys that would have lead to evolution of human beings.

Answer 5

This question gets asked about 5 times a week.

Evolution does NOT say that humans evolved from monkeys.

It says that both humans and the other great apes that exist today all have a common ancestor. Man differs from chimps who differ from gorillas who differ from orangutans because we all evolved differently.

It is always good to question as long as you are willing to accept an answer that doesn't fit your current belief.

Answer 6

We didn't evolve from monkeys, and no biologist would ever say that we did. We did evolve from an ancestral primate. Modern chimpanzees and humans both evolved from the same ancestor more recently than humans and gorillas and chimps. The further back in time you go, you'll find common ancestors shared by more and more species...

Answer 7

one species doesn't have to dissapear in order for a new species to evolve from it. if the circimstances allow monkeys to survive then they will sustain their populations while another species branches off and starts a new population.

species only go extinct if they are selected against. monkeys are quite successful...which is why there are so many different kinds.

Answer 8

Primates and monkeys lived in different geographic locations and different habitats and were subjected to different environmental pressures. Given those facts is it difficult to believe that all species evolve at different rates and in different ways? Mankind evolved due to the unique environmental pressures he was subjected to while other primates occupied their own distinct niche in their ecosystems.

Answer 9

dont believe in evolution, but the theory doesn't state that we evolved from monkeys, it says we both have common ancestors, i.e we can carry some similar genes, and resemble one another, which what makes the theory true....still don't believe it though

Answer 10

actually we DE-evolved from monkey's.
Just think what it would be like to spend all day swinging from tree's