2007-03-09 23:17:19 · 9 answers · asked by shockoshocko 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Humans did not evolve from the kind of apes you see today (chimps, gorillas, orang utans, etc.).
Humans and modern apes evolved from a common ancestor.
They are all *branches* on the tree of life.
...
I have a theory as to why this question has been asked over 327 times on Yahoo Answers (I'm not exaggerating).
It seems that some people get the image of evolution like cars rolling off the assembly line. When Ford starts making the 1987 Taurus, they stop making 1986 Tauruses. So the '86 is replaced by the '87, then the '88, then '89, etc. etc.
Life doesn't work like that.
Life is a *tree* not a chain. A species is born by branching of a single species into two. This happens because two populations get isolated, and then start evolving separately. Both branches continue to breed and survive, and can evolve to be *very* different animals.
2007-03-10 02:23:00 · answer #1 · answered by secretsauce 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A whole group does not evolve! Anyhow, apes and men are cousins, not parent and child. They have common ancestors. You should study Evolution more and that will deecrease your errors and confusion. Even if men did evolve from apes, most apes would remain apes. Only one or a few would move on to become other species. Apes, men and their ancestors can all live together until something happens to cause onl;y the fittest to survive.
2007-03-10 02:53:43 · answer #2 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People who misundertand evolution often pose the question of why apes are no longer evolving to be humans. They fail to grasp that 1. evolution is not teleological; that humans do not sit on top of some evolutionary "ladder" to which lower life forms are climbing; and 2. that while apes and humans share relatively recent (in geological time) ancestry, each species is evolving in an independent direction (like branches on a tree).
Having said that, it appears as though many apes are undergoing rapid selection for increased intelligence. This may be a result of having to adapt to their ecosystems undergoing rapid change from human impacts. University of Chicago geneticist Chung I-Wu compared the DNA sequences of genes expressed in brain function among chimps, humans and several species of Old World monkeys. Wu found that the brains of chimps and the monkeys are rapidly evolving for increased intelligence, while those of humans have been static for the last few thousand years.
2007-03-10 01:10:08 · answer #3 · answered by Dendronbat Crocoduck 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am guessing from your question that you are thinking that there should not be apes because they should all have evolved into humans.
You really need to study evolution to understand how it works. Humans are cousins to the great apes, not descendants of them. Apes will continue to be apes, and humans will continue to be humans. All we share is a common ancestor far back on the evolutionary tree. The two groups split off and went their separate ways long ago. Gorillas, Chimpanzees, and Orangutans went one way, and we went another way.
Get yourself an inexpensive primer on evolution, and read it carefully. It will explain it much better than I ever could.
2007-03-09 23:30:20 · answer #4 · answered by Bronwen 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some say it is because we are still evolving and the process takes many thousands of years.
I say it is because God created from the bottm up, giving the appearance of evolution, which is really the same as evolution.
2007-03-09 23:24:36 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because humans didn't evolve from apes. humans and apes shared a common ancestor.
2007-03-11 17:13:47 · answer #6 · answered by rb_1989226 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Why does anyone still think this is a good question?!
Look: most Americans descend from Europeans. So why are there still Europeans?
Does that sound like a sensible question to you?
2007-03-12 02:10:50 · answer #7 · answered by garik 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we evolved further than apes because aliens implanted their souls into us, thats what seperates humans from apes
2007-03-09 23:19:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
hopefully we make to the dignity of apes one day, what an achievement that would be.........
2007-03-09 23:22:17 · answer #9 · answered by christiane m 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋