Some people believe we are descended from chimpanzees. There are still chimpanzees, though. Why do you think that is? Is it possible that our ancestors are still living if evolution is correct? Why did we not become chimpanzees? A clear answer is that we did not.
In this case, the inquiry is founded on a misunderstanding. We could use it to refute some common myths about scientific theory and evolution. And we will learn about our roots as we go.
Evolution Of Chimpanzees
Both Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin first proposed the idea of evolution in the late 1850s. It is Darwin who gets the credit. It was a good sign, however, that they both came to the same conclusion independently.
Over time, organisms and species evolve through changes in hereditary features, either behavioral or physical. As a result of these alterations, the organism is better able to live and reproduce.
“Fitness” refers to an organism’s capacity to live and reproduce. It is not the same as physical fitness achieved by a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Evolution Theory’s Evidence
Geology, paleontology, developmental, and genetics biology all lend support to the notion of evolution. Paleontology is well-known for these lines of evidence. It has discovered that life on Earth has been around for a very long time. Some transitional species, known as “missing links,” have discovered. The characteristics of these fossils fall somewhere in the middle of those of already-known species. This reveals a hitherto unseen connection between the two species.
Chimpanzees And Human
Let’s come back to our original question now that I have battered you over the head with the distinction between the term “theory” as it is commonly use and a “scientific theory”. If chimps are still around, how could evolution be true? Humans and chimpanzees have a common ancestor, according to the idea of evolution. Over 6 million years ago, this shared ancestor gave origin to both lineages.
The progenitors of every primate, proto-primates that existed roughly 65.6 million years ago even during the Paleocene Epoch, can be found if we go back even farther. This species, which was found in northern Europe and America and resembled squirrels, was most likely an arboreal one. They were extinct roughly 35 million years ago, at the close of the Eocene Epoch. However, their offspring, the first genuine primates, supplanted them.
These alterations persisted until the appearance of anthropoid monkeys during the Oligocene Epoch when they began to proliferate (between about 33 and 23 million years ago). Because we humans are descend from anthropoid primates, these monkeys were the ancestors of all other primates. Monkeys arrived in South America about the same time, either by way of a land bridge from North America or Africa or through drifting on vegetation floating clumps.
New World monkeys, which have dubbed “Old World” ancestors, developed independently from their “Old World” counterparts. Asian, African, and North American monkeys have both tree- and ground-dwelling species, in contrast to the exclusive tree-dwelling species in South America.
The first apes appeared in Africa some 26 million years ago. The brains of these apes have grown in size once again. The giant apes and the lesser apes were form as a result of these new creatures. Gibbons and other modern-day apes are part of the smaller apes.
Chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas, and humans are all considered to be giant apes. The orangutans and the African apes are subspecies of the great apes. Chimpanzees, Humans, and bonobos all descended from the African apes that split roughly 8-9 million years ago.
The hominin line split off from the chimpanzee & bonobo line around 6 million years ago. Neanderthals, Homo habilis, Australopithecus, and Homo erectus are all descendants of this branch. Homo sapiens are the sole surviving descendants of the lineage that includes the other three species. About 500K years ago, Homo erectus is estimate to have developed into archaic Homo sapiens. Between 160K and 140K years ago, these primitive species gave origin to our own. Chimpanzees and evolution are not mutually exclusive if you have all the facts. The idea of evolution explains not just their existence but ours as well.
