If evolution was a process why have we as humans not evolved in the last several thousand years?

Question

If we supposedly have evolved from either a fish or a monkey why have we not changed at all in the last several thousand years? Surely if this were a true theory several thousand years should have at least a small change!

Answer 1

Take a picture of a moving car.

Show the picture to a friend.

Ask them if the car is moving.

Will they be able to tell?

It's been said by the above posters - all of humans' recorded history is minute compared to evolutionary time. If you compared the history of life on Earth to our calendar year (i.e. life begins on January 1st), modern humans came on to the scene on December 31st, without enough time to pour a glass of champagne while the ball drops.

Answer 2

evolution takes time to proceed.....i think,it wil be wrong if u say we did nt change at all......

Answer 3

Evolution is on-going process. Our jaws and teeth are getting smaller. There is not enough room for the wisdom teeth.

Answer 4

It's not an "if", and evolution is a very slow process.  A few thousand years is a blink of an eye in evolutionary time.

If you want to understand, rather than use your imagination, take a course in evolutionary biology - it'll explain it all!

Answer 5

*HONK!*

Wrong.

Several thousand years = last month. To give you a rough timescale: the last Neanderthals died out 30,000 years ago. First Homo spp. individuals appeared 2 million years ago. First australopithecii appeared 4 million years ago.

To give you an idea, let's imagine Neanderthals died 100 years ago. Even in this 'zipped' timescale, it means that the first tool-welding ape-men appeared 7,000 years ago - that's before Egypt.

Evolution is too slow to be recorded in our history - even in our PREhistory. Get over it.

Answer 6

that's because evolution doesn't exist, you silly goose ;]

Answer 7

The Evolutionary Theory states that these things occur over Millions of years.

My problem with it is, we should be able to identify at least a few species that are actually going through Evolutionary Changes.

It's also curious, that if Evolution is taking place...then all species should be partaking in the process.  How is it that the Coelacanth is still present today, unchanged.  It had been classified as Extinct...and then they caught one.  How can it resist Evolution?

I found the webpage below which states other species that have also resisted Evolution...haven't read their website details, but I recognize some of the species as legitimately ancient.

LOL on the thumbs down!  How come those giving the thumbs down haven't answered my specific point...why are some species 'Resisting Evolutionary Change'?

Have those species attained perfection, the 'Pinnacle for their Species'?  I've taken Biology Classes and studied Evolution, but this specific question has never been answered.  I focus on the Coelecanth, because I'm familiar with its history.  References for your position please.  Thx!

Answer 8

Humans did nopt evolve from a fish or a monkey but alongside both, get a grasp on the concept of evolution before belittling it.

Written record of mankind's existence is only a couple of thousand years at best and scientific study of human anatomy is an even shorter period of time. Two thousand years is only a drop in the bucket when compared to hundreds of millions of years.

Answer 9

The point that you are missing is that we are constantly evolving.  Every reproduction is another branching of the evolutionary tree, although most branches turn out to be short.

One clear example of human evolution that happened twice is the hemoglobin S gene.  It is a single nucleotide mutation that changes the protein sequence in hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the red blood cells.  Those people who carry only one copy of the hemoglobin S gene are relatively protected from malaria.  People with no copies have no protection from malaria.  People who get two copies of the gene have sickle cell disease, a devastating disease.

Another example of recent human evolution is the resistance to the black plague among Europeans.  The plague lasted about 300 years, and it provided a strong evolutionary force towards development of resistance.

A current example is the development of resistance to HIV in those areas where it is very prevalent.  This mirrors the resistance to HIV that chimpanzees developed earlier.

In summary, human evolution is still happening, every day, every birth.  Its outcome may not be very visible, but it is there nevertheless.

Answer 10

first, it is impossible to observe the realm that we belong to.. at least accuractly and scientifically..

we cannot make observations over conditions and varibles that we ourselves control..

second, we have evolved.. the 2-3 thousand years of 'stasis' we've experienced is but a bat of an eye in evolutionary scale. we've become slightly taller and lankier over the last 1,000 years or so scince such measures were recorded

third, artificial selection has become what drives genetic success.. we no longer choose our mated based on survivability.. but attractiveness, wealth, personality, and cultural differences

this leads to a mish-mosh of traits as opposed to a single general design..

maybe aunt doobie needs a couple fewer doobies.. they most certainly are evolving.. not all new species discovered were just 'hiding under a rock somewhere, unnoticed by man', but were previously another species, that have just recently become seperate enough to be re-classified..

not to mention all the human induced evolution of the dog, fish, cat, cattle and essentially all domestic animals

dawgz.. evolution needs a drive.. you don't just randomly grow another leg.. unless that provides an advantange..

the environment  that the coelecanth lives in has been unchanged for millions of years, and the slight changes that have happened, they've been able to adapt to unchaged (behavioral difference, not physical)

same is true with crocodilians, their niche hasn't changed as such they haven't changed

Answer 11

"If evolution was a process why have we as humans not evolved in the last several thousand years?"

Ah!  But we have!  See here:

LA Times: "Study finds humans still evolving, and quickly" (12/11/'07)

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-s...

"Surely if this were a true theory several thousand years should have at least a small change!"

Well, we have a number of small changes.  Blue eyes, adult ability to digest milk, increased resistance to some diseases, brain development, etc...  Still, major changes in long lived organisms like humans take millions of years, and fossil and genetic evidence show that they happen too.

Also, man did not evolve from monkeys.  Man evolved from an early ape ancestor that produced many species, including monkeys and apes.  Humans are actually classified as a kind of ape.

If you've been told that humans have stopped evolving or that humans evolved from monkeys, then someone has been misleading you about the science of evolution.  Please keep asking questions and you'll find evolution makes a lot more sense than you thought.

Answer 12

I've wondered that myself. But not just humans. Why have animals stopped evolving?

Answer 13

There are parts of us that no longer serve a purpose. But they did a long time ago, and think about Neanderthals, they were quite a bit different, but we evolved from them. Evolution doesn't happen fast enough in humans for us to really notice it. Plus in today's society, especially in America, there isn't much of a need to evolve, because there aren't many physical challenges in life.

You see evolution in bacteria and viruses. Scientists have to create new variants of vaccinations and antibiotics to cope with the always changing diseases.

Answer 14

Good point, where is the proof??  There isn't much... my conclusion?  Evolution never happened and isn't happening.

Pax!

Answer 15

It takes millions of years to evolve, not thousands.  Chance mutations.  But I think we've probably become smarter.  Our heads and brains are more valuable than our physical strength, which is probably atrophying as a species.

Answer 16

pete.. you just don't understand evolution, nor do you comprehend how long life has actually existed on this earth compared to the time of recordkeeping...