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Asked by 482smgd53 to Aaron, Abbey, Keith, Natalie, Pete on 16 Nov 2015.
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Aaron Boardley answered on 16 Nov 2015:
We often refer to ‘monkeys’ when talking about evolution, but in fact we didn’t descend from monkeys. Both us and monkeys did evolve from earlier ape-like creatures though.
It’s a bit like saying: are you descended from your cousin? No. But both you and your cousin are both descended from your grandfather. It’s the same with us and monkeys – our genetic ‘cousins’.
The thing to remember with evolution is that there isn’t a purpose or a driving force behind it. Each time a parent has children, the children’s DNA will be ever-so-slightly different: we call these ‘mutations’, and they’re perfectly normal. If the mutations give the animal an advantage, it survives and has more children. If the mutations give the animal a disadvantage, it’s more likely to die and not have children. Over time, all the little mutations and advantages start to add up and you notice the creatures are quite different from their distant relatives – a new species!
So, why did humans evolve from our ape ancestors? Because each step of the way, each little difference we had gave us a slight advantage.
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Natalie Garrett answered on 20 Nov 2015:
A lot of people seem to think we evolved from monkeys, but this isn’t what actually happened. The real answer is that both we and monkeys evolved from a common ancestor, something that was a bit like us and a bit like monkeys but not completely one or the other. We know this is true because we can look at the fossil record, and we can look at DNA and work this out using scientific methods.
To answer ‘why’ is pretty hard. Evolution doesn’t have something controlling it that has a master plan. Let’s say that the world’s temperature starts to increase, what will happen to the animals? It’s likely that animals that can move about and eat a wide range of things, and tolerate a range of temperatures are likely to be better adapted at surviving than those that don’t. This would mean that all future generations with these beneficial traits are more likely to survive too. This is how evolution happens, it’s in response to an environmental trigger, it’s not a process that has a deeper meaning really. Simply put, whatever traits give an animal an advantage in any given situation are going to be the most likely traits to be passed onto the next generation.
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