“If we evolved from Chimps, then why are there still Chimps today,” this is the million-dollar question that we would all love the answer too, but the truth is there is NO definitive answer. Our education and theories about our past ancestors and how they once lived is still evolving today. Unfortunately, when examining the human origin, the answer will not be as simple as 2+2=4. I have read many articles over the past couple of days trying to pose my answer to this question, but the truth is… I don’t have one. Evolution is not linear, and it is an involuntary action that occurs of thousands of years so perhaps chimps are still in a primitive phase or maybe it is because we share a common ancestor as the chimps that allow us to be so close in DNA. I read this article from Fabio Mendes that states:
“We did not evolve from a modern, living ape, like a chimpanzee. We evolved and descended from the common ancestors of apes, which lived and died in the distant past. This means that we are related to other apes and that we are ape ourselves. And alongside us, the other living apes species have also evolved from the same common ancestor and exist today in the wild and zoos” (Mendes, 2017).
This stances on our evolution can be supported by the fact that we share 98.7% of our DNA with modern apes. The missing part of the DNA that would make it 100% shared is most likely due to a divergence in the “family” line. One path from this divergence can lead to modern humans, while the other leads to modern apes. Thus, supporting Darwin’s proposed idea of a common descendant.
But like stated before, maybe the chimps today haven’t had time to evolve to the human status we are at today, after all, evolution is not a linear process. To many, this makes not make sense and there is no evidence to support this theory, but who are we to say it isn’t true… science is constantly changing and our view on our past ancestors is constantly changing as well. I believe that this is why human evolution is such an interesting topic as well as a conservational one.
Mendes, F. (2019, June 07). If we evolved from apes, why are there still apes? Retrieved June 02, 2020, from https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/2017/09/26/why-are-there-still-apes/
Interesting article you found. I think the issue here might be, as you suggest, that we are teaching evolution in the wrong way. images like "March of Progress" etc make us think that evolution has a long-term goal. Which then leads to questions like the one we are thinking on now. But to answer it requires us to think more deeply on what evolution is and how it works. Chimps don't become better humans over time, they become better chimps. Maybe we need to reanalyze how we conceptualize and then present the processes of evolution
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