If humans evolved from apes or monkeys then how come there are still apes and monkeys on earth?

Answer 1

BRAVO!!!!! The reality of it all! Thank you! That is exactly why it is JUST a theory! Some one thinks they all have a common ancestor. "Thinks" is the key word here. Where's the direct link? It will never be found due to non-existence!

Answer 2

Because they evolved from our common ancestor too. We humans got smarter. The great apes, including chimpanzees, got stronger. They are stronger than us humans. (A 180-pound chimp would wipe the floor with a 180-pound human, even a college 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, what the Cajuns call "lagniappe", like the free cookie the baker gives the kids when Mom buys a big birthday cake:

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 mentioned above.

Answer 3

Evolution doesn't imply that one species replaces another. It has to do with species branching off from one another.

Humans and modern chimpanzees share a common ancestor: an ape species that was neither human nor modern chimpanzee, but which gave rise to both. Likewise, all apes alive today (as well as humans) share a common ancestor with all monkeys alive today. That ancestor, which lived long before our most recent ape ancestor, was not any particular species of monkey that exists today; they've all continued to evolve over time just like we have. It was a monkey-like ancestor, though.

Answer 4

there have been a number of species and that they did no longer all evolve in the comparable path. in simple terms as now some monkeys like baboons stay thoroughly diverse existence. The logic in the back of the question could advise that's no longer achieveable. How could desire to there be a floor living monkey like baboons. Why did no longer all monkeys undertake that attitude. the respond is via the fact there continues to be a manner for monkeys to stay in the trees. Splitting into separate species allowed diverse populations to apply new possibilities. After the populations have been spit for some thousand generations or extra, they have been separate species and now no longer genetically waiting to reproduce.

Answer 5

They only share a common ancestor and evolved through different paths of selection. The ancestor could have been the same for chimpanzees.

Answer 6

because it's not that humans evolved from apes or monkeys, but that they share a common ancestor.

Answer 7

Different species evolve differently, based on their surroundings and their needs for survival.

The Galapagos Islands are a good place to compare and contrast different species of a genus of animals. The distant isolation of these islands has resulted in the animals on the Galapagos evolving differently from their cousins on mainland South America.

Answer 8

Each had a common ancestor.

You could do a search here on YA and check the dozens of times this has been asked and answered.

Answer 9

we evolved from a different species of ape called a primape

Answer 10

Gosh, I'd never thought of that before.

If you eat food at meal times, why is there still food?