Question on 'Evolution'? - I need need an answer to explain to child.?

Question

It was recommended that I post this question here rather than the board I originally posted it on.

How do we know that gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and apes didn't 'regress' from humans, instead of our 'evolving' from them?

I need a serious answer, no wise-cracks please.

Thank you.

Answer 1

If they descended from our lineage it would be in their genes. The reverse is true as well, and there is very strong genetic evidence indicating that humans descended from a common ancestor with apes, not the reverse

http://www.evolutionpages.com/chromosome...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee_...

Answer 2

Scientists believe that Homo Sapiens Sapiens became a separate species between 130,000 and 1,000,000 years ago.  The fossils say we are the younger, biochemical data suggests the older age.

Chimps and us diverged 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 years ago.  (By "us" I'm talking about the divergence of our first ancestors which were not their ancestors also).  Gorillias and Orangs are even less related, diverging further back.  So, it would be pretty difficult for them  to "regress" from us, since neither were around when "we" bacame separate branches on the tree of life.

"regress" is 19th (and unfortunately early 20th Century, think Holocaust and Eugenics) thinking.  Evolve is evolve.  Simpler to more complex or vice versa.  There is no "direction" towards higher species.  Some bugs have more complicated DNA than we do.   The idea that Mankind is at the "top" of evolution is not supported by the facts and belongs to religious discussions.  Finally, we certainly did NOT evolve from chimps, gorillias or orangutans - where did you learn your Science...in Bible Studies?  

Answer 3

The best answer to give a child is that God made man and God made apes.

My sixth grade science teacher had a lesson for us to basically show us how worthless we are. That our bodies are only worth about $6.00 and even though our mothers would think that we were worth much more, that doesn't matter.

We shouldn't instill in our children that they are animals and then wonder why they act like animals.  The basic problem that your child will have to face in his/her future will be a Godless world with no absolute rights that come from God. Instead it will be a one world Communist/marxist government ran world where we all get treated like the animals that these scientists say that we are.

The question is sorta like if in n**i Germany, your child asked if the Jew was evolving into the German or if some past German regressed into the Jew.

The answer would be neither.

Answer 4

We didn't evolve from gorillas, orangutans, or chimpanzees.  We all evolved from a common ancestor.  Each species has developed adaptations (through mutations) that have allowed it to successfully pass on its genes to next generations.

There is no "regression" in evolution.  If there is a loss of traits, it is because that trait did not serve the species' ability to reproduce and was likely costly to keep.

Answer 5

we know because we are smarter than them. they can only use very simple tools to help them, and we have machines and things that can do basically everything for us.

make it a good day

Answer 6

By the relative ages in the fossil record.  (Nonhuman) great ape fossils appear in the fossil record before human fossils do.

Answer 7

As others have said, it's neither.  Humans and other apes all evolved from a common ancestor, and that's demonstrated in the fossil record.  There is no de-evolution, no creature is any 'more evolved' than any other.  They're just differently evolved.

Answer 8

1: the theory of evolution is based on the idea of survival of the fittest and the dying-off of the not-so-fit. Regression isn't possible, since the "lesser" specimens would be ill-adapted and die off.

Now let's take care of your own misconception:

We didn't evolve from gorillas, etc., we and the apes all evolved from one common ancestor. That should take care of the silly old "if man evolved from the monkey, how come there still are monkeys" conundrum when that arises.

Answer 9

there are some dangerous answers on here, so be careful!

A big point:

we evolved from species doesn't mean we are better, more evolved, smarter, or better adapted. Evolution does not have a direction.

When we say we evolved from them (rather than they evolved from us) means that their species existed before hours...in time.

We can tell what species the remains of an animal are (ie. bones) by two methods: morphology and DNA. We can tell how old remains are by multiple methods (carbon dating, layers in the earth, etc).

We can thus place in order when species appeared on the planet. The oldest chimps were around before the oldest humans.

A more complex answer, perhaps above the head of a child is based on relationships among DNA. Though this is complicated, it has provided some nice pictures to use in explaining the relationships among species.

See here for one of primates:

http://www.4colorvision.com/pix/phylopri...

or here for the earliest level:

http://www.4colorvision.com/pix/phylopri...

or here for a big one expressing the diversity of life (these are all species for which science has mapped genomes!)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...

Really, key point is that there is not directionality. Humans are not the pinnacle of evolution - we are one branch.

Answer 10

As others have said quite correctly, your mistake is in thinking that one of them evolved "from" the other.   This is a complete misconception.

NO EXISTING SPECIES CAN BE SAID TO HAVE EVOLVED FROM ANOTHER EXISTING SPECIES.

So it is just as incorrect to say that humans evolved from some existing ape species (gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees) as it is to say that some existing ape species evolved from humans.

Second, your word "regressed" shows that you have the common misconception that apes are somehow "lower" or "less advanced" than humans.  This is another common human conceit.

Apes are every bit as "evolved" as we are ... every bit as "advanced" ... every bit as "adapted" to their environment as we are to ours ... the result of every bit as many years of evolution as we are.  They are not "lower" than we are.  We are not "higher."   Apes are not some sort of "earlier" stage of human evolution ... so it is impossible for some humans to have "regressed" to be chimps ... but it is also impossible for chimps to "evolve" into humans.

All the existing ape species are just other branches in the tree of life.

Answer 11

You could explain this using examples of how certain ape-traits would not be favorably selected amongst a population of humans (ie why would the reversible thumb disappear, why would we start to walk on all fours when walking on two legs provides a clear advantage, why would we begin to get hairy when nobody freezes to death anyway).  However, these may be a bit abstract for explaining to a child.  

You are probably better off using a hard, tangible fact:  the fossil record.  The fossil record shows us unequivocally that ape-like creatures existed before human-like creatures.

Answer 12

We have an ancestral form to the great apes: Pierolapithecus catalaunicus.  It isn't human.