If humans evolved from apes, why are there still apes?

Let's say upfront that asking “if humans/apes evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?” is exactly the same as saying “if there are snakes, why are there still lizards?”, “if there are tetrapods, why are there still fish”, or “if there are European Americans, why are there still Europeans?”. read more

Humans are thought to have descended from Australopithecus, despite which, there are no non-human australopithecines alive anymore (hint: some of our closest non-human relatives are extinct, despite which there are several other “ape” species that are still alive). read more

Firstly, man did not evolve from modern apes. Man and modern apes share a common ancestor, which is extinct. However, the question comes from a flawed understanding of how evolution works. Evolution is not a straight line, where entire populations change into new species all at the same time. read more

This distinction would be less obvious if early, monkey-like members of the ape lineage still existed. But they don’t; they’re extinct. So you should think of apes as monkeys in the same way that birds are dinosaurs, snakes are lizards, and humans are apes. The shape of the tree. read more

Firstly, man did not evolve from modern apes. Man and modern apes share a common ancestor, which is extinct. However, the question comes from a flawed understanding of how evolution works. read more

This claim sounds illogical, ridiculous, in fact. It is a fairly common piece of scientific knowledge that humans evolved from monkeys. However, we only share 93% of our DNA with, say, a rhesus monkey. read more