why are there monkeys if there are people?

Question

I want to know: If humans evolved from primates, then why are there still primates? Isn't evolution about natural selection? The only reason that humans would have evolved from apes is if they couldn't cut it in the world. But here we both are... what am I missing? And yes, I realise this is a dumb question... I guess thats why my Bio prof laughed :(

Answer 1

extremely dumb indeed

someone else asked this already

http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result;_ylt=Atbiaz6.HKkQCpZH8GEdAs8azKIX?p=Why+are+there+monkeys+if+there+are+people

Answer 2

Monkeys, or apes in general (from Chimpan A to Chimpanzee…gorrillas, everything) and humans are believed to come from a common ancestor. Humans don't come from monkeys, but from what scientists call the "missing link", the fork in the evolutionary road where we went off in one direction, and the other primates went their own way. Each form of primate has adapted to suit its own environment, so there's no reason for the other primates to die out just because there is a more advanced form. Also, a major part of evolutionary theory is randomness and that evolution does not push all life towards greater complexity. It is possible, due to various factors, that a species could de-evolve. So, even though we as humans, with greater intelligence, had a large advantage over other primates, that does not rule out the possibility that other forms can exist.

Your point about why humans evolved from apes is noted, but, that's brings us back to the concept of the missing link. The earlier forms of humans (like neanderthals, and australopithicus) eventually died out while more advanced forms (like homo erectus and homo habillis) managed to survive, eventually leading to homo sapiens sapiens (us). But the missing link, and a lot of the species before it all died out. Other primates also fork from the same link in the chain, due to natural selection etc. giving us the monkeys etc. of today.

Humans and monkeys, gorrilas etc, have so much in common, that evolutionists usually agree on this idea of divergent evolution (homologous structures; hands, bones throughout body, organs, bodiliy systems, and even psychological factos)

Answer 3

This question gets asked so often that some people in Religion & Science have made a drinking game of it; every time someone ***, they take a drink. You may get some answers that say "Swig" or "Gulp" or "Thanks for the excuse to drink". That's what they mean. If you do a search on "still monkies", "still monkeys" and "still apes" you'll get roughly 2 - 3 per day since YA started.

Here is a short answer:

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.) I don't expect you to believe that, but if you try hard enough you can understand it.

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 (Monarchists are people who want to be ruled by a king or queen, not butterfly fanciers.) 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. One night on the "Saturday Night Live" TV show, Gilda Radner argued vehemently against the "Deaf Penalty", instead of the "Death Penalty". She looked absurd 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.

If you are truly curious, ask your minister to give you a short, reasoned explanation of evolution. Tell him you don't want to believe it, of course; you just want to understand it. If he says he can't because it is wrong, he is as ignorant as those monarchists I mentioned above.

Answer 4

Humans ARE primates silly, they didn't "evolve from primates", LOL!

Other primates (chimpanzees, orang-utans, etc.) evolved from a common ancestor to the one we evolved from.

If someone told you that cake was made from the same ingredients as biscuits, would you automatically assume that meant that either cake didn't exist or that biscuits were a myth? That's the essence of your argument!

Tell your bio professor he needs to do a better job of explaining things to you!

Answer 5

Humans didn't evolve from primates. Primates and humans evolved from a common ancestor.

Answer 6

So, you have the same species a long time ago. One population may have been seperated from the other. Maybe by land forms or weather. (Mountains, oceans, snow...) The genetics of one population changed over time and the other stayed the same. When the two were not seperated any more, their genetic make-up was to different to mate. They kept evolving and here we are today.
We did evolve not directly from them, but from a common ancestor.

Answer 7

We didn't evolve from monkeys; humans and monkey have a common ancestor. You are related to your cousin, but you didn't come FROM your cousin - you share a common ancestor in your grandparents.

Apes obviously CAN survive, in their envirnoments. If they moved to a different climate, they would have to find other ways to survive or die off. Humans moved. Apes didn't.

Answer 8

Evolution does not occur in an entire population, but only in a small part of it.

Your teacher should not have laughed. He should have been ashamed at the poor quality of his teaching.

Answer 9

There's room for diversity, of course.

Answer 10

because we had a mutation in our offspring that allowed us to be differant.