I am often asked by naysayers of evolution "then why aren't apes evolving anymore?" My answer is "I don't know

Question

I am often asked by naysayers of evolution "then why aren't apes evolving anymore?" I don't know the answer to this question. Is there a good answer to this question?

Answer 1

We are all evolving but it isnt an overnight process. one person wont see an evolutionary change in his lifetime because it can take generations before a change occurs. Think of breeding dogs. You want a certain feature to be prevailant like longer ears so you mate the ones that have the longest ears but you wont necessarily see the change in the direct descendants. It may take many descendants before every dog comes out with the longest ears.

Answer 2

They probably are, but due to its slow process we can't see it. Not to mention that they probably don't need to evolve, there is no real dire need for it.

Answer 3

The answer is:

They are. You are, I am. Every living thing is an intermediary form. Evolution never stopped.

Why haven't you, personally, seen it? Because you haven't looked. You have to bear in mind that the timeframe we are looking at is in hundreds of thousands of years, even millions.

you aren't going to see an ape give birth to a Neanderthal. it does not work that way.

At best you will see an ape that has a distinct advantage over it's peers, giving it a better chance at producing offspring.

That line, over immense amounts of time, differentiates enough from the original to qualify as a separate species. If it survives, and the conditions that give it the advantage continue to prevail.

Answer 4

The simple facts are that all animals are evolving as I write this.  I get a chuckle out of those that expect to see these changes within the time of recorded history.  Homo-Sapien only appeared 2 to 250,000 years ago.  Homo Erectus, probable ancestor of Sapein & Neandertal, was around 1.5 to 2 million years ago.

Modern apes are still mostly tree dwelling apes that split from the hominid line some 5 to 7 million years ago.  However the bonobo & chimp only split & evolved into separate species some 1.5 to 2 million years ago. Bonobos appear to be evolving toward bipedalism.

Answer 5

Humans never evolved from apes.  That's the biggest deception in science to date.  Apes were humans, in fact  a Jewish tribe who did not keep the Sabbath so God transformed them into apes and swine.  The evidence for this is in the Koran.  There has been no where else (source) which can explain the ape business as does the Koran.

7:166 But when even after this they (the Jews) disdainfully persisted in that from which they were forbidden, We said to them, "Become apes—despised and disgraced!"

Sura 2:65

The historical context of Sura 2:65, as far as this can be determined, sees the founding of the Muslim community in Medina, a year or two after the Hijrah. Muhammad works hard at reconciling his message with the earlier religion of Judaism—indeed, he sees himself as a reformer of both Judaism and Christianity. But the Jews do not receive his message for two major reasons: he is a Gentile, and his knowledge of the Torah is confused. But the polemics is not yet heated up, at least not as much as it will be.

Thus, the literary context of Sura 2:65, having as its background the fishermen’s legend in Sura 7:163-166, says that if the People of the Book (Jews and Christians, but he deals mostly with Jews in Medina) believe in Allah, the Last Day, and do good, they will not suffer at judgment. However, Muhammad issues a warning against Sabbath-breakers. Allah through Muhammad addresses the Jews as "you" and refers to himself in the royal "We":

2:65 And you know well the story of those among you who broke Sabbath. We said to them: "Be apes—despised and hated by all." 66 Thus We made their end a warning to the people of their time and succeeding generation, and an admonition for God-fearing people.

Answer 6

To me the answer seems simple, they don't need to.  They are surviving well in the enviroment they have.

Answer 7

apes arent growing any more because they are now endangered in the wild. their habitat is shrinking and they  can  barekly maintain what they  have now. inbreeding makes a species weaker not stronger. Evolution can only happen when  favorable circumstances exist like an abundance of food and space to grow.

we have squeezed them out as we have done so many times to  so many species. we have either crowded or hunted them out of existence

Answer 8

Who says that apes are not evolving anymore?  Evolution does not take place in mans' lifetime.  Who knows, someday the apes may be the then current mans' equal?  Do you know?  How about your friend?  It seems that he may be the perfect example of reverse evolution.

Answer 9

evolution takes a lot of time, no number specific but it can take a very long time. i believe that the apes have found a nitch to fill so that they can survive and pass their genes on; ultimate goal. i think that even if humans just disappear tomorrow, it would take the apes a long time for them to fill our spot as a dominant species if someone else doesn't beat them to the finish line.  but if your really interested in this stuff read "the world without us" by  a. weisman.

Answer 10

They are evolving..

The problem with the anti-evolutionist is that they refuse to believe anything that 'GOD' didn't tell them.

You can't watch evolution in an animal as complex as an ape! This isn't Lamarkian evolution, it doesn't happen in one generation.  The mutations that would benefit an ape are random, and then would be passed down through generations, becoming more and more prevalent.  But this would take 1000s of years to really see, and by then no one remembers what it was like before.

Since they ignore fossil evidence, it is easy for them to say there is no evolution.

They ignore the truth, which is fine if they stay out of scientific debates.  They don't belong there.

Answer 11

Just like dog breeds - it is just mutations - they all started out looking like coyotes / wolves, and now look at the variations.

The first mutation or adaptation was in one being not all of the breeding pairs at the same time.  That one line would thrive and move on to live and hunt in a wider area leaving the apes behind in the old life style.

Now that genetic testing is available, it is amazing the how the blood lines are being mapped all over the globe.

Answer 12

One hypothesis is that to make a large evolutionary jump, say from monkey to primitive man, requires a quantifiable change that forces a species to adapt.

Hypothetically speaking, apes the group of apes that became man faced a challenge and adapted by becoming smarter while the rest of the apes faced it by becoming what apes are today.

Answer 13

Evolution works through the natural selection of particular traits within a population. It is therefore difficult to see the 'direction' of evolution without studying a population over many generations. Whereas this is possible for shortlived organisms such as fruitflies and bacteria, it is very difficult to do this for long lived organisms such as apes.

But behind the naysayers question is an assumption that evolution is telelogical, i.e. directed towards a particular end. Why did some proto-apes evolve into human beings and yet others stayed at the level of apes? This ignores the fact that evolution works within the framework of particular ecological niches. Chimpanzees are the best fit for their particular niche - they don't 'need' to become more intelligent. Intelligence has its disadvantages as well as advantages - big brains mean a long and difficult pregnancy and slow development to adulthood.

So there are different possible responses to this question.

Maybe apes are evolving only we can't see the trend because it is so slow.

Maybe apes are not evolving because they are already best fitted for their environment.

The naysayers seem to be implying that creatures have to evolve - this is not the case. Cockroaches and coelacanths have survived pretty much unchanged for millions of years because they do what they do very well.

In response to 'me': what a ludicrous argument. If some Jewish people were the ancestors of apes and pigs that would imply that apes and pigs had only been around for 3,000 years or so. Even if one believed that some people were transformed into apes and pigs (I understand that many Muslim scholars do take this sura literally) it does not imply that this was the origin of apes and pigs!

Answer 14

Evolution on that scale takes a lot longer than our lifetimes. Evolution means small changes in genetic code over time. If you want to show someone something that evolves faster, check out HIV. It evolves within months.

Answer 15

Apes are evolving. today's apes are nothing like the common ancestors we share with them. different apes evolved take advantage of different environments and that shows in their differences. Humans developed significant tool use and that caused us to go mad.

Answer 16

Very good question

Answer 17

Apes are still evolving.  Actually, some apes have evolved more then humans since our last common ancestor.  This means they have undergone more genetic changes since the ancestor both of us share.

Answer 18

No species 'evolve' in the sense that all the members of a group of animals or plants gradually or suddenly turn into something else. The process of natural selection means that when a species comes under pressure from environmental change eg rainforest gives way to grassland, it will favour some individuals above others eg those with the ability to stand upright and see into the distance, or those with hunting ability as opposed to fruit gathering skills. In time this natural selection may lead to new species being formed. Where conditions haven't changed, such as the remainng bits of rainforest, there is no evolutionary pressure to change and hence our relatives the great apes can continue to live the way they have for millenia and not undergo radical evolutionary change. Having said that, the great apes of today are probably different species from the types that lived when humans first evolved.

Answer 19

Evolution is SLOW.  We can only "see" it in species like flies and moths, with very short lives.

Man is not supposed to have evolved from apes, but from an apelike hominid.