• Question: If humans converted from apes, why didn't all apes convert to humans?

    Asked by morgan to Frank, Ian, Isabel, Jared, Zena on 14 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Frank Longford

      Frank Longford answered on 14 Mar 2015:

      Species evolve in nature through natural selection. This means that statistically, individuals of animals in a population that develop (through mutation) features that allow them to be better suited to the environment they are in have a higher chance of surviving than individuals without these features. Our ancestors developed differently from apes because we inhabited a different environment. Most apes on the planet all possess features that have developed over thousands of of years and allow them to be perfectly suited to their environment. Crocodiles have barely evolved for millions of years because they are so well adapted to their environment.

    • Photo: Isabel Pires

      Isabel Pires answered on 15 Mar 2015:

      Evolution is an interesting subject, isn’t it?

      I agree with Frank’s answer, and I would add that the apes that exist nowadays are not our direct ancestors, but have evolved alongside us – we shared a common ancestor. If you look back enough, mammals shared the same ancestor with modern reptiles, and this ancestors evolved from other animals that looked a bit like amphibians (such as frogs and salamanders), from which they themselves evolved.

Comments