According to the theory that Humans have developed from apes. Then why do apes still exist? or is it mean that the generations ahead of these apes will become human?
2 Answers
Evolution does not mean that one species transforms into another. What it does mean is that every so often a trait will appear that is beneficial and may therefore be passed to subsequent generations.
Explanation:
To rewrite the question slightly, Why is it that apes still exist if it's the case that humans developed from them. Wouldn't it be the case that if humans developed from apes that there would therefore be no apes and only humans?
The Theory of Evolution is based on the idea that changes get introduced into a population's genetic code (there's a few ways this happens). Most of those changes are either not helpful to the member of the population carrying that code or are harmful - either way, the changes either soon die off or are completely unnoticed. However, those changes that are helpful to that member's survival will tend to propagate over generations of the population and will become prevalent.
How does this work? Let's say Mom Ape and Dad Ape have 10 Child Apes.
Child Ape 7 has Down's Syndrome - a genetic disorder. Child Ape 7 likely won't survive for long and it's genes won't be passed to another generation.
Child Ape 9 has a gene mutation which changes the depth of the eyes - from set in very deep to set in less deep. This change means this ape has better peripheral vision and so is less likely to be killed when an attacker/predator attacks from the side. This small percentage change in survivability is a positive trait change and will likely be passed on to further generations.
After several generations have passed, there are many apes in the population. The ape children of apes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 are normal, functional apes. Some of the children of Ape 9, however, have less set in eyes - and so they are slightly less likely to die from surprise attack. The apes without the less set-in eyes haven't died out - it's just that there are now apes with more inset eyes and apes with less inset eyes. As time goes on, the children of Ape 9 will be slightly more likely to live, giving them an advantage over the other ape children.
If you follow this link to a webpage showing the evolution of bacteria over the course of 11 days, you'll see bacteria that evolves into being able to withstand antibiotics 1000 times more powerful than what is normally needed to kill them. That doesn't mean that the starting bacteria dies off and there is only bacteria that has evolved - they co-exist side-by-side.
Evolution continues to do its work on us modern-day humans. This link details 7 evolutionary things some part of the human population is experiencing.. For example, the ability to drink and digest milk is a genetic change that some 25% of the human population have (most of the human population are intolerant in some shape and form).
Being able to drink milk into adulthood provides another food source, thereby increasing the ability to survive, and therefore making that evolutionary change beneficial and therefore getting passed onto further generations of people.
To summarize - Evolution doesn't state that one species transforms into another. What it does say is that occasional changes to the genetic code of a member of a species will give it a slightly better chance of survival, meaning that that change is more likely to survive in succeeding generations. Put enough of those small changes together and you end up with another species - but the old species does not necessarily die out.
No according to the theory humans and apes have a common ancestor, No apes will not mutate into humans, No the existence of apes does not invalidate the theory of a common ancestor.
Explanation:
First it is a major misunderstanding of the Neo Darwinian theory of evolution to think that humans descended directly from apes. Darwin's theory of descent with modification postulates that all life comes from a common ancestor. As part of this theory apes, chimps, monkeys and humans are all descended from a common ancestor.
Second that apes exist does not invalidate the theory. Take the example of dogs. It well established that all the present variations or sub species of dogs originated from a common ancestor the grey wolf. The fact that the grey wolf , German Shepherds, and other more original forms of dogs still exist does not disprove the idea that the toy poodle is a descent with modification of a wolf.
Third No Darwinian evolution does not work in reverse. Taking the example of the dogs. Pugs have lost genetic information that changes the shape of their head. It is not possible for the pug to get that information back. The grey wolf has more possible variations of genetic information than the different kinds of dogs that have descended from the wolf. The apes, have different forms of DNA information that humans and it is not possible for apes to gain that information.
Bacteria gain resistance to antibiotics by losing information. (Beak of the Finch page 262) The bacteria without the proteins on their outer membrane can not be attacked by the antibiotics so these mutated bacteria have a survival advantages in the presence of the antibiotics. The stock or wild bacteria still exist and will thrive better in a normal environment. The mutated bacteria having lost information can not revert back to the original form.
