DID WE EVOLVE FROM APES OR SHARE A COMMON ANCESTOR?

Question

I was under the impression that humans, chimps, gorillas, etc. all shared a common ancestor. But someone I'm having a debate with says that we evolved from apes. So who's right?

Answer 1

We have a common ancestor with today's apes, and today's apes didn't exist when we branched off from their lines.



That common ancestor, from about 6 million years ago, would to us seem more apelike than human, being hairier, having darker skin, and unable to stand upright for long periods. The common ancestor also had a smaller brain pan than today's humans.



Our closest "relative" in the ape world is the chimpanzee, which shares about 97% of our DNA. Half of that difference came from our evolution and half came from chimp evolution.



So we didn't evolve from apes, but our common ancestor visually seems more like an ape than a human in our eyes. Genetically (as opposed to visually), it would be somewhere between a human and an ape.

Answer 2

> I was under the impression that humans, chimps, gorillas, etc. all shared a common ancestor.

True



> But someone I'm having a debate with says that we evolved from apes.

Also true.



==

We're classified as great apes. The common ancestor we share with any other extant great ape would itself be a great ape.



What you're not recognizing is that "ape" is inclusive of extant and extinct forms. An ape that died last year is a dead ape. An ape that died ten million years ago is also a dead ape.



==

Go back further. We're descended from bony fish. The common ancestor we share with any extant bony fish would itself be an ancient bony fish. The common ancestor we share with a rainbow trout wasn't a trout, but it was a bony fish.

Answer 3

There's a lot of unnecessary nitpicking about this subject. All of the following statements are true:



-We did not evolve from other modern apes. Chimpanzees are not our ancestors.



-We, and other modern ape species, evolved from a common ancestor that is now extinct.



-This common ancestor species, if it were around today, would certainly be classified as an "ape".



-We humans are still part of the ape group ourselves.

Answer 4

There was a ancestor that later through speciation two different species came to rise apes and humans ,thats the theory and since we have the same ancestor that apes do we 'evolved' from apes.......ps that ancestor hasn't been found yet its just a theory.

Answer 5

Both are true. We all evolved from an ape common ancestor that is now extinct.

Answer 6

If you have absolutely no grasp of anything you're talking about, you shouldn't try to debate.



We are apes, who evolved from an earlier species of ape. Chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and other species are also apes.



Both of those thing are TRUE. We and other apes evolved from a common ape ancestor.



When you understand nothing at all, it's best to not try to debate.

Answer 7

we are apes, Great Apes, specifically. We evolved from some precursor apes, yes, but we are still apes. At some point down the tree, the ancestors were not really apes, so that question of what we evolved from depends on where you choose to look.

Answer 8

We share a common ancestor, technically we are apes.

Answer 9

If that hypothetical common ancestor existed it would almost certainly be described as an ape; just not a modern ape.



There is little real evidence, but a lot of story telling, to support this theory. Fueled with a desire to prove evolution by finding transitional fossils there has been a tendency to promote any new find as 'The Missing Link". Over time and when fossils have been examined by those with less vested interests the claims have been found to be exaggerated.



Neither does genetics support the human from ape hypothesis. Simply put, the genetic differences are too great, both in number and type, for there to have been a common ancestor within the last 10 million years as is claimed.

Answer 10

We evolved from an early ape that was also a common ancestor of us and the existing apes.



From that early ancestor, the branch that led to us ended up in an area that was not a dense jungle--probably a result of climate change that caused an open woodland because of reduced rainfall--while the other branch that led to the present-day apes remained in dense jungle.



The open woodland that our early predecessors lived in had different environmental pressures that resulted in a different mode of living compared with the ape lineage. The environmental pressures of the open woodland ultimately led to bipedalism and tool making, and we are the result.



The environment of the other lineage that remained in the jungle resulted in further adaptation to the jungle environment, thus leading to the great apes of today, the gorilla and chimpanzee.



Added



Baylee, in answer to your comment below. It was an early ape. All apes are ape-like, since the living apes have variation in body types, though with common features. The present-day apes consist of the lesser apes (the siamang and the gibbon), which had an earlier common ancestor with the common ancestor of us and the great apes (the orangutan, the two species of gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees).

Answer 11

Humans are apes. Humans, chimps, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans comprise the great apes.



Humans are extant apes that evolved from certain earlier, now-extinct apes.





PS: Not too long ago humans were not considered apes, even among scientists. But that was a holdover from earlier times and was scientifically untenable.

Answer 12

We share a common ancestor, technically we are apes.

Answer 13

We are apes. It's all a matter of how you classify animals which are all quite similar to each other. There is no specific point where you can say we stopped being animals. By the way, if it's a religious discussion, evolution is 100% proven, but it does not mean that intelligent design doesn't exist, just means it doesn't have to exist.



The universe is eternal, big bang, big crunch, big bang, all of it is one thing, energy, which cannot be created or destroyed, I call this God, which has nothing really to do with the ridiculous fairy tale idea some barely evolved inbred retards have about the definition of the word. It's always meant to have been interpreted metaphorically, in a Buddhist type of way.

Answer 14

We are apes.



Order: Primates

Superfamily: Hominoidea (The Great Apes)

Family: Hominidae

Answer 15

Do a deep research project on Australopithicus. That was one of the first upright apes, with a smallish brain.



Gigantopithicus was really large, bigger then the gorilla.

Answer 16

we have humans and we have apes so why aren't there still half ape half humans swinging in the trees? if there was a missing link why did one group advance into man and the other group stay apes.

Answer 17

We share a common ancestor named: "Australopithicus".

Answer 18

noone knows for sure but most scientist say that we evolved from apes

Answer 19

Just think of it as we came from ape like creatures. They looked very similar to apes, but actually we didn't come FROM apes themselves. But to simplify it many will just say apes.

Answer 20

Good Day Guys,



Actually this is stupid... we came about with single mom and dad i.e. ADAM and HAWA. We didnt come from apes!! The biologist uses this ideology to help them with their studies, even if you ask them, they'll say no! but it helps us to do more in our field! Dont believe me?? Ask Darwin in his book he admits it.



But, we people are lazy, so lazy that we go and believe everything they are saying out their. And very importantly the religion! Go and look for the truth... and you decide your path...



[ HINT : Start from ISLAM ]

Answer 21

It depends on how far up the family tree you climb.

Answer 22

We are not apes that's so stupid. I'm guessing that you don't believe In god do you

Answer 23

we de-evolved from Adam and Eve.

God created all animals.

Answer 24

I'm unclear whether you can be 100% sure on who is right. I believe science offers multiple explanations, but not a final one yet.

Answer 25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh0F4FBLJRE

Answer 26

Not hardly.