Question 1

Why did apes and humans evolve from a common ancestor, but in different paths?

Accepted Answer

Evolved doesn't mean becoming smarter, or taller, or faster, or anything like that, it just means changed.  However any one of those traits can be a way a certain species evolves but individually none of them would be a requirement.

When humans look at a fleas we look at them and find them to very primitive.  It can't use tools like we can, it can't build houses for shelter like we do, it can't build a fire to keep itself warm, it can't even talk with other fleas.  So we see all of those traits that we can do that are essential for our survival that the flea can't do and we see ourselves as superior to a flea.

However if that flea had the same mental capacity as we do and can make the same judgment, it would look at us to say "look at those apes, I can jump 100 times my own height they can barely jump 1/3 of their height.  If they fall from a height of 3 times their own height they run the risk of breaking a bone and even dying.   Me, my hard exoskeleton protects me from any fall even if its 1000s of times my own height.  I can jump from the ground on to a deer without it even noticing, then hide in its fur, feed off of it and even start a family all awhile being protected within the deer's fur, let's see a human do that"

So which one is better.  What would happen if humans evolved the ability to jump 100s of times their own height so its on par with a fleas ability?  Well, obviously, humans would be able to jump 500-600 feet in the air, and since our skeletal structure is the way it is, we would immediately die on impact.  So the fleas have it much better than humans in that regards.

Conversely, What would happen if a flea evolved to have the reasoning and mental capacity equal to a human?  Well, what is a flea even going to use that for?  Humans originally used it to develop primitive weaponry for hunting as well as to domesticate fire for warmth and cooking our kills.  Would any of that, in any way, be of any help to a fleas survival?  No; of course not.  Those skills would be completely useless to a flea.  They need to jump onto passing mammals, drink their blood and hide in their fur. Not kill cook and eat like humans.

So to answer your original question, a human is no more evolved than any other primate or even a common flea.  Every species evolved in a way that gives it the best possible chance to survive long enough to pass on its genes to the next generation.

Question 2

When the instructor refers to "Lesser Apes" at 0:40, what characteristics classify these "Lesser Apes"?

Accepted Answer

lesser ape characteristics are smaller brains smaller size. for example the smallest great ape is the bonobo chimp which is mostly around   four feet in size. while the largest lesser ape the siaming tends to be three feet in size. lesser apes also have longer and thinner arms when compaired too leg length. while great apes like gorillias and humans tend too have a similar leg and arm size. lesser apes are also found in southeast asia and islands like sumatra. while great apes are found in africa. the lesser apes are also tree dwellers while the great apes tend too be terristrial animals. lesser apes are vegetarian while great apes are omnivorious with humans and chimpanzees hunting for food

Question 3

So, if we evolved from apes why did not all of the apes evolve with us.

Accepted Answer

We did not evolve from any modern species.  The term ape is a category of organisms based on specific characteristics.  There was a species that fit the label of ape that is a common ancestor that modern apes and humans evolved from.  By the way humans are still technically apes.

Question 4

Do viruses have genders? Or do they all just multiply by splitting or something? Also, are all species constantly slowly evolving?

Accepted Answer

Single cell organisms and viruses use asexual reproduction and do not have separate sexes.

Question 5

Why haven't humans evolved for so long or gone through any period of natural selection for thousands of years? Peope from ancient egypt had the same structure of modern day humans.

Accepted Answer

They have. All species are continuously evolving.

Question 6

Okay, so we evolve from apes, so if one mated with a human could you see the "half-way" of human evolution?

Accepted Answer

First, humans are apes. Second, it would be more accurate to say that all apes and humans share a common ancestor instead of saying that humans evolved from apes. This common ancestor doesn't exist any more because over time the traits found in a population changed and became what we see today in the diversity of ape populations . So if you could mate a human with an ape you would end up with a hybrid, but that hybrid wouldn't necessarily be anything like the common ancestor. Also, because humans and other apes are different species it might not be possible to mate the two and even if it was most people would find it unethical.

Although it isn't quite the same because it doesn't deal with heredity a similar idea would be that raisins and grape juice share a common ancestor, at some time in the past they were both grapes. If you mix together raisins and grape juice you don't really get grapes.

Although it isn't quite the same because it doesn't deal with heredity a similar idea would be that raisins and grape juice share a common ancestor, at some time in the past they were both grapes.  If you mix together raisins and grape juice you don't really get grapes.

Question 7

AT 0:43, Why didn't lesser apes evolve into humans?

Accepted Answer

They evolved into what they are now. Evolution has no goal that all forms are evolving towards. All current species are equally evolved.

Question 8

why don't apes have tails?

Accepted Answer

The primary reason that apes evolved without tails is because of their preferred locomotion methods. Other monkeys preferred to move through the treetops on slender branches on all fours, and a tail is very important in this case for balance purposes. However, apes primarily move around by walking on solid ground or swinging through trees with their upper limbs. Tails are less needed for balance here, so they gradually went away because of evolution.

Question 9

Is it true that humans do have a "tail" of sorts albeit it is not visible. A small vestal 6  inch  or less curve at the base of the spine. Virtually unused but nevertheless painful of broke or cracked? 
And do any other primates have this hidden attachment?

Accepted Answer

True. Humans have vestibular organ - tail but it is rudimentary.

Great epes have coccyx as well. For example gorillas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_vestigiality
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128053720000055
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ar.1091910404

Question 10

So we are not Derived from apes, we are actually an ape species am I right?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that's why we are considered the "Fifth ape". (Orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and humans, we can consider them our cousins)

Biology library

Course: Biology library > Unit 25

Ape clarification

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