Humans evolved from the apes. So why aren't all apes now humans?

Question

Why did the evolution stop?

Were certain apes just too adapted to their environment already?

Why did some apes evolve, and others not?

Or is evolution still happening? Are the apes of today the humans of tomorrow?

Expert opinion or just theories all welcome, please source if neccessary!

Answer 1

I'll give you three more questions to go with your survey, each just as meaningful  and logical, as yours.

If Prosches are evolved from popcorn, why do we still have corn?

If Electron microscopes are evolved from river rock...why do we still have rivers?

I you are evolved from a plant...why do we still have redwoods?

Are seeing a pattern here? There is one which you may be able to apply to your question.

Answer 2

This question has been asked a million times.  I suggest you look at some of the previous questions before re-asking them.  However, since you have asked, here is my answer.

Humans did NOT evolve from apes.  We evolved from a common primate ancestor.  There were no chimpanzees hanging out when humans were first evolving because chimps were still evolving too!  

So, evolution did not stop.  We are still evolving.  Biological evolution takes time - more than just one generation between you and your parents.

All apes evolved.  All animals evolved.  All animals are still evolving.  All apes are still evolving.  Humans are still evolving.  Who knows what we or the apes will become in the future.  It's extremely unlikely that the "apes of today are the humans of tomorrow" however.  First, we came from a common ancestor who is now exitinct.  If you start from a different point and the environment is different, you're going to end up with a different end product.  All this assumes we don't completely kill off the apes through our lack of respect for them.

Addition:  We evolved from a common ancestor.  Any anthroopologist or biologist would know what you're asking about.  Nice excuse though.

There was one common ancestor initially and so, I guess, in a weird way, you could say that the common ancestor is now human....and also a lot of other things.  

When animals evolve they don't follow a straight path.  It didn't go   common ancestor to orangutangs to gorillas to chimps to humans.  It doesn't work that way.  It's a branching.  So it went more like the common ancestor likely broke off into A. africanus and A. afarensis and those each broke to multiple things like A. robustus, A. boisei, etc.  Then those creatures (adapting to environmental pressures of course) eventually became other things like H. habilis and H. erectus which eventually became H. heidelbergensis and neanderthalensis and sapiens.  

I would suggest reading an introductory physical anthropology text book if you want to know more.

Answer 3

I don't have a answer for that question-- but I am always wondering the same thing!

Answer 4

I'm going to bring out my "tree" example.

Let's say there's a certain kind of tree growing on top of a mountain.  For millions of years this tree grows and reproduces like trees do, but then one day one tree produces one seed with a mutation.  This mutation makes the resulting sapling have blue leaves.  This mutant sapling grows up and starts producing seeds for more trees with blue leaves.

Now, maybe nothing else happens and the two kinds of trees just keep growing there.  Now we have two different species.  The original trees didn't stop growing and the mutant trees are still growing too.

Or, maybe some goats move to the mountain.  They see all these trees and they start eating them, but the ones with the blue leaves don't taste good to them.  So the goats eat all the original trees which kills them off.  That means the blue trees were a successful adaptation; the mutation and the mass extinction are two separate events.  Or maybe the blue trees taste great and the goats eat all of them, leaving the original trees.  That makes the blue leaves an evolutionary dead end.

Or, maybe (before the goats came) one of the mutated trees changed again and now we have original trees, blue leaves, and purple leaves.  If the goats ate all the blue trees, we'd have a so-called "missing link."  We would know the purple trees were related to the original trees but we would not have the evolutionary middle step.

We could continue on with this example (like the goats could be changed because of the nutrition in the blue leaves--or the blue leaves could be poisonous to goats) but I think you get the idea.  Evolution is still happening but it takes a long time to see changes.  Just do the math--how long would it take for a genetic mutation to spread through an entire population?  Generations, right?  With plants we can see evolution a lot quicker because plant generations are a lot shorter than human generations.

Answer 5

Humans AND apes both evolved from a common primate ancestor. We did not exactly come from "apes". The evolutionary process is still happening, as you can see with scientists discovering new species it seems almost monthly these days. Evolution happens very slowly, it is not like some comic book where humans are blasted with radioactive ooze and they become evolved. We are ever slowly changing to suit our environment, just like other species.

Answer 6

Humans have been more successful than great apes, spreading over more of the world and being far greater in number. Alas, we may even succeed in destroying all the great apes, in which case the great apes would, indeed, have ceased to exist. On the other hand, humans may use their mental and symbolic skills to figure out how NOT to kill off apes and other endangered species, in which case we will probably contribute even more to our own survival in the long run.

Answer 7

We did not evolve from apes.  Apes and humans had a common ancestor.  Our part of the family tree went the way of human.  

Evolution is still happening.  For example, that's why we have to keep inventing new vaccinations against the flu; it evolves to be resistant to vaccines.  

But we're not going to see such a large evolutionary movement as ancestor to human; after all, that took millions of years.

Answer 8

What you basically are asking is...

If I mix red & blue, to get purple, now that I have some purple, why do red and blue still exist?

Your thinking is too linear...

Why can't you mix blue & yellow the next day, and then have green?

All the blue, or red or yellow doesn't get used up, and everything is not limited to only proceed in one narrow direction at the expense of where they originated from!

It's like asking you, now that you've been born, why do your parents still exist? How come they've not become more like you?

Answer 9

Considering tha fact we didnt evolve from apes...yea. And wat kinda answer do u expect wit a question like this??

Answer 10

That is a gross but common misconception about evolution. No scientist claims that humans evolved from apes. Humans, monkeys, apes all evolved from a common ancestor that lived several million years ago. Humans and apes are branches from a common tree as it were.

That being said, I don't really know why apes are so behind us. But did you know that there were several advanced humanoids evolving parallel to humans 10s of thousands of years ago. Have you ever heard of the Neanderthal? They were humans' biggest competitor and were vying along with us as the dominant race on Earth. They just lost the competition. I guess all the advanced races other than humans died out.

Answer 11

i don't think humans formed from apes i think they can from an other planet or god put uus here

Answer 12

You’re also asking “If dogs are descended from wolves, why are there still wolves?

From the National Academy of Sciences:

"If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

     Humans did not evolve from modern apes, but humans and modern apes shared a common ancestor, a species that no longer exists. Because we share a recent common ancestor with chimpanzees and gorillas, we have many anatomical, genetic, biochemical, and even behavioral similarities with these African great apes. We are less similar to the Asian apes--orangutans and gibbons--and even less similar to monkeys, because we share common ancestors with these groups in the more distant past.

In short humans and apes came from a common branch but each has gone their own way on the evolutionary journey. Even with millions of years, apes won't become human

     Evolution is a branching or splitting process in which populations split off from one another and gradually become different. As the two groups become isolated from each other, they stop sharing genes, and eventually genetic differences increase until members of the groups can no longer interbreed. At this point, they have become separate species. Through time, these two species might give rise to new species, and so on through millennia. "

http://www.nap.edu/html/creationism/appe...

From Straight Dope:

Why isn't this argument used against evolution? Well, it is--it's just used incorrectly. Let's start with a quote from the recently re-released publication, Science and Creationism: A View from the National Academy of Sciences (Second Edition).   In the section on "Human Evolution," the publication notes, "today there is no significant scientific doubt about the close evolutionary relationships among all primates, including humans."

Evolution doesn't work as a simple find-and-replace function. Have you ever seen the evolutionary "tree" diagrams in a science book?  Those trees show how different species branch off and go in different evolutionary directions. That doesn't necessarily mean everything else dies. As the National Academy of Sciences document notes, archaeological finds "reveal a well-branched tree, parts of which trace a general evolutionary sequence leading from ape-like forms to modern humans."

The NAS publication actually answers your question directly in its Appendix of Frequently Asked Questions. It says:

"Humans did not evolve from modern apes, but humans and modern apes shared a common ancestor, a species that no longer exists. Because we share a recent common ancestor with chimpanzees and gorillas, we have many anatomical, genetic, biochemical, and even behavioral similarities with these African great apes. We are less similar to the Asian apes orangutans and gibbons and even less similar to monkeys, because we share common ancestors with these groups in the more distant past.

"Evolution is a branching or splitting process in which populations split off from one another and gradually become different. As the two groups become isolated from each other, they stop sharing genes, and eventually genetic differences increase until members of the groups can no longer interbreed. At this point, they have become separate species. Through time, these two species might give rise to new species, and so on through millennia."

In other words, the "ape-like" animals that eventually gave rise to humans split up into several branches, all of which evolved in different directions. Some of those lines became become extinct; others survived. One of the surviving groups includes you and me (and in theory P.E. teachers, although one wonders). Other survivors include the various species of monkeys and apes we find today.

So, John, I've convinced you, right? Attaboy--always nice to have another ally in the fight against ignorance. Incidentally, you can find the NAS publication on the web at http://books.nap.edu/html/creationism/. Lots of good info in there!

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mevo...

Answer 13

Evolution is from a single mutation from one parent to offspring, so other species are left behind while others change and morph. It's like saying why aren't all cats, dogs? Species are left in the dust as one evolved from it, and the evolved one prospers. This is no different with humans and apes.

Answer 14

Simply because no one has any idea where we have come from and why. Evolution is just another theory as creationism is and both of them make no sense at all. So, my advice is keep searching and you may come up with something better than the existing two Paramythologies.

Answer 15

We evolved from the Great Red Santa Ape in space and we use to defecate on our toys and throw them at predators with our crinkled hands............and that's where babies come from.