(ORDO NEWS) — You have probably heard of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, which states that humans evolved from apes. But the funny thing is that Darwin never said that.
Humans and apes do have a common ancestor. However, monkeys are more like our cousins ​​than direct ancestors.
Today, humanity, like hundreds of years ago, shares the Earth with monkeys. The fact that these 2 species are related has been recognized by anthropologists and biologists from all over the world.
But the interpretation of Darwin’s famous theory of human evolution from apes is a big oversimplification. Humans didn’t evolve from monkeys, at least not in the way some people understand it.
Yes, monkeys still exist, but they didn’t just magically turn into humans.
In fact, both species developed in parallel and probably had the same ancestor: an ancient primate that lived about 6 million years ago in Africa and gave rise to 2 branches.
One of them led to the appearance of modern humans, and the other – to the appearance of modern apes.
Why do monkeys still exist
Modern primates exist today because they are not the ancestors of humans, but rather their cousins. Many people think that ancient apes evolved into primates and primates evolved into humans because they think that evolution is a straight line. But this is not true.
Ancient apes did not evolve into modern ones. Modern primates and their ancestors evolved from an older relative that scientists call the common ancestor of the great apes.
But there is no linear relationship between ancient apes, primates and humans. Historically, primates have more in common with humans than with apes, just as humans have more in common with their brothers than with cousins.
This ancestor probably possessed both ape and human traits. In 2000, scientists discovered one of the most ancient hominids.
He lived in Kenya about 6 million years ago, was probably the size of a chimpanzee, and not only climbed trees, but could walk on two legs.
Whether this was a common ancestor of the two species that exist today (apes and humans), or there is another missing link, scientists have yet to find out.
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