Does this support evolution?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/chimpsspottedusingcaveslikeearlyhumans

Answer 1

I think the answer lies in this statement, excerpted from the article you linked to:
"Biologist Rob Shumaker at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines added, "These findings really point out the range of behavioral and cognitive flexibility that exists for chimpanzees."

The obvious inplication is that chimps already possess this capacity, and under the right conditions, it comes to the forefront. Though this is a crude comparison, exposing caucasian skin to sunlight brings to the front its ability to tan. It does NOT create an ability the skin did not already possess. In the same fashion, presented with a dilema, people invent things to solve the problem - THINGS which did not before exist; the capacity, however, was always there.

"Ah," the evolutionist will say, "isn't this a demonstration of natural selection? If the chimps are able to survive by means of toolmaking abilities which other chimps don't possess, doesn't this give them a competitive edge?"

I will concede that perhaps it does, though not for reasons you might expect. The debate over human brain size and cognitive ability is not resolved as there seems to be no absolute correlation between size and processing power. It is demonstrably true that there have been geniuses with smaller cranial pans than average, and there have also been idiots with large brains. There is more to the brain than meets the eye. There is equally strong information which seems to implicate nuture in the production of intelligence. This is a bit of a sticky wicket as this cannot be explained purely in terms of genetics. Since what we understand about intelligence is at this point minimal, it is not credibly established that chimp toolmaking is heritable, especially lacking intensive phenotyping of all chimp populations under consideration.

In light of the above, it strikes me as rather suspicious that scientists appear so anxious to jump at this as demonstration of their convictions that they seem willing to ignore the obvious approach. Therefore, I submit this is a mere anomally - a scientifc curiosity - nothing more. If they wish to be responsible, they should conduct widescale gene studies, admit the paucity of understanding of the mechanisms of intellingence and not be so quick to holler eureka.

Tom

Answer 2

No, it doesn't. All it means is that chimps are smart and will take refuge in a cave in inclement weather. A lion or a bear will do that. It doesn't mean that we are related to them.
They also found recently that the amount of DNA that chimps and humans share is less than previously thought - closer to 94% than 98%. Given the fact that there are millions of differences between chimps and humans on the genetic level that we can't see, and given the fact that there is so much genetic information on a single DNA strand that, if you converted the information to encyclopedia form, you could fill the Grand Canyon 40 times over, or that, if you uncoiled it, you could stretch it from here to the moon and back, a difference of 6% is a huge, unbridgeable gap that would take far more time to "accidentally" evolve than evolutionists allow.

Answer 3

Not really. It's not evidence of a change in allele frequency in a population over time, so not technically.

It is evidence of ability to adapt to climate change, which could be contrasted with earlier primates that did not do so effectively, and we could say that was evidence for evolution, but that's unnessarily complex.

Answer 4

I can't imagine how this single event supports the genetic evolution of species, but it clearly illustrates that contemporary chimpanzees have culture, as Jane Goodall has long maintained.

Answer 5

It only supports evolution very slightly. Compared to spear use, going into caves seems rather trivial. Still, the more we learn about chimps, the smaller our differences appear.

Answer 6

it ALL THE MORE DISPROVES evolution. it shows that the bones scientists found along with tools from supposedly millions of years ago are nothing but chimp's bones & chimp's tools, which they have thought as "the missing link"... obviously they're now seeing that those bones REALLY ARE MONKEYS, not almost-men monkeys.

God created you and me as human, why can't you just accept the fact that you are special, you have a soul & a purpose, not a mere "accident" by some incredible organic soup...

Answer 7

Sure!

There have also been articles written about chimps using spears as weapons to catch food, where before they used to put sticks into anthills & eat the ants off the stick.

Answer 8

No, it doesn't. Evolution in primates takes place over periods of time too long to be observable.

But other things do prove evolution, such as insecticides and vaccines, as these can easily be seen to evolve.

Answer 9

For me, it's proof that God gave some animals intelligence enough to survive in dangerous environments.

Answer 10

Nothing supports evolution, not even science. Ask a scientist. I highly doubt Yahoo has answers that science missed.