h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If we evolved from apes, because we are evolutionarily better at living, how come there still are apes?

I suspect I'm going to regret this, but here goes...

Today's apes are our cousins, not our ancestors.

A species may evolve by adaptation to a new environment, in which case the species it evolves from may carry on quite happily in the old, neighbouring environment.

There's lots more, but let's see how the conversation develops.

And then there's the strange idea that evolution is directed towards the more complex, more interesting creatures (like us, strangely enough) when most of the species which have ever existed, still developing at an enormously fast rate, and probably making up the vast majority of the earth's biomass despite their tiny individual size... are bacteria.

not to mention the massive number of insect species.

which brings me to another point, if its all about survival of the fittest, what's wrong with human beings finishing off all the other ones?

No, that's a different theory - suicide of the most arrogant.

or, to paraphrase Xordin's question...

"If it's all about E=mc², what's wrong with dropping a nuke on the White House?"

Yep: there's still something about people with an 'X' at the start of their name

thank you and I think xordin win thank you too. have a

So is anbody interested in evolution or anything?

sure am. evolution keeps happening, be it in website design, programming, individual belief systems, or in nature generally. wonderfull stuff.

A couple of years ago i read about the discovery of a chimp's skull from couple of million years ago. Judging by the angle the vertebrate attached to the skull, this chimp had evolved to be primarily a biped. They must have evolved back onto all fours in the intervening millennia. I suspect humans are heading the same way.

Maybe this creature was as much a "chimp" as Lucy was a "man". It ain't that simple.

we didn't necisarrily adapt to a new environment from apes, but possibly had a point mutation or many of them.. to becauome something completely different and as we know more than one thing can live in the same similar environment, thus we both exist.