2007-03-23 17:06:11 · 6 answers · asked by kelleygaither2000 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
I don't know at what hour the creationists hijacked the biology section (and as usual, some of them can't even spell "evolution", let alone show the most basic understanding of what it's about; though I'm sure some will also give this post thumbs-down for the false sense of satisfaction). But to give you an answer that actually has something to do with science and not religion:
There are lots of animals other than primates that have four limbs and digits on each limb. Reptiles come to mind. So the fact that we can grab things with our toes, albeit not all that well, goes back much further than the immediate common ancestor of primates in general. We have toes basically for the same reason we have an appendix, a tailbone, wisdom teeth, and other useless features: they're vestigial features.
2007-03-23 18:42:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't think anyone can ever answer that question for sure, because tracking why mutations were favourable some time millions of years ago is very difficult.
It is worth noting that animals that are nor primates can grasp things with their toes, rats and mice come directly to mind, squirrels, probably lots of rodents, lots of birds too.
Our toes have changed a lot since we shared a common ancestor with modern primates (obviously). It's hard to know why we still retain some grasping function in our toes. It could be that up until very recently our toes had a functional role for grasping. However I think it is far more likely that our limited grasping ability a side effect of our use of our toes as a walking aid. (In response to geezerbills post, we do use our toes for walking, our big toes are more powerful than our thumbs, and have a huge role in balance, and gait; see source below).
2007-03-23 21:32:08 · answer #2 · answered by Bill C 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Primate ancestory? Are you saying your from a monkey? I didn't come from a monkey, althought I used to like climbing in trees. That whole evalution of mankind is just a bunch of idiots trying to explain something, when they refuse to see the truth. It just comes down to hand/eye coordination, or should I say toes/eye.
2007-03-23 17:20:50 · answer #3 · answered by littledel 5 · 0⤊ 6⤋
humans are primates.
2007-03-23 17:15:34 · answer #4 · answered by ¥¥Z 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
We do NOT have a 'primate ancestry'; all that evolution stuff is not true.
2007-03-23 17:20:04 · answer #5 · answered by MissTee 1 · 0⤊ 6⤋
no that's just good eye-foot coordination.....
2007-03-23 17:13:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋