Evolution does not operate by evolving what is “needed”; it operates by modifying what is present. We never evolved wings simply because the initial mutations which could have led to wings never occurred. The mammalian lineage where the necessary prerequisite mutation(s) did occur, and was subsequently capitalized on and molded by natural selection is that of bats.
As John Mace mentions, we are primates, and we are also apes. “Apes” (aka, Hominoidea), by definition, are comprised of humans (Homo), gorillas (Gorilla), chimps (Pan), orangutans (Pongo), and gibbons (Hylobates), as well as the most recent common ancestor of all of these groups, and all other descendents of that ancestor (which would include several extinct forms). So, even if we don’t know much about that common ancestor, it is likewise by definition an ape. We may not have evolved from what we call “the great apes”, but we still evolved from, and are, apes.
Well, I’m prepared to buy the strength vs. endurance argument and add that it’s what allowed us to take control instead of Bonzo. Proto-humans managed to roam pretty far, setting up shop all over the place, while the other primates hung around their territories and were periodically wiped out by disease and fires and whatnot, against which their superior stength offered no protection. Just by wandering, humans got a wider range of experiences, which invited development of memory and abstract thought and whatnot.
Maybe we got kicked out of the trees, but we came back with bulldozers. Take THAT, chimpo!
OT, but I was in Akron, OH a couple of weeks ago and heard an advertisement from a residential window manufacturer. The spokesman’s last name was Mothersbaugh. Then I recalled there were a couple Mothersbaugh’s in Devo. Same family, probably…
Yes, obviously im aware of all this. Didnt you read the post that started this thread? The author was trying to get someone to describe how evolution could explain the fact that we are not as strong are our primate cousins. Implying that we evolved from the apes one can go to a zoo to have a loook at. That is what i was replying to…
Well, not so obviously, since you said, “We only have a common ancestor with current great apes, we didnt evolve from them.” If you were stating that as an interpretation of the OP, you didn’t make that very clear.
