Chimp/Homo-Sapien split quesiton...

zack
Posts: 43
Joined: 2007-07-04
User is offlineOffline
Chimp/Homo-Sapien split quesiton...

A quick question regarding evolution...

I was engaging in a discussion with a like minded comrade last night regarding evolution and he made the statement that we homo sapien descended from chimpanzee. I disagreed and stated that I thought what both homo sapien and chimp actually descended from what was an ape-like ancestor, but NOT exactly a chimp in the sense of what we today know as a chimp. I also made the point that we split with the common ancestor before there were further known splits with the (what would become) chimp side of the family (e.g. bonobos, gorillas).

My question then is who is actually right? OR... are we both mis-guided on the issue?

“It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere.” - Voltaire


Visual_Paradox
atheistRational VIP!Special Agent
Visual_Paradox's picture
Posts: 481
Joined: 2007-04-07
User is offlineOffline
(Tree of Life Web Project:

(Tree of Life Web Project: Hominidae)

 

Humans didn't evolve from chimpanzees.

Humans and australopithecus share a common ancestor. That common ancestor, in turn, shares a common ancestor with ardipithecus. That common ancestor, in turn, shares a common ancestor with the chimpanzee. That common ancestor, in turn, shares a common ancestor with the gorilla. That common ancestor, in turn, shares a common ancestor with the orangutan.

You know how we have first and second cousins? The chimpanzees are like our billionth cousins due to how long ago our bloodlines diverged. We share a common ancestor with them but we didn't descend from them.

Stultior stulto fuisti, qui tabellis crederes!


Watcher
atheist
Posts: 2326
Joined: 2007-07-10
User is offlineOffline
zack wrote:A quick

zack wrote:
A quick question regarding evolution...

I was engaging in a discussion with a like minded comrade last night regarding evolution and he made the statement that we homo sapien descended from chimpanzee. I disagreed and stated that I thought what both homo sapien and chimp actually descended from what was an ape-like ancestor, but NOT exactly a chimp in the sense of what we today know as a chimp. I also made the point that we split with the common ancestor before there were further known splits with the (what would become) chimp side of the family (e.g. bonobos, gorillas).

My question then is who is actually right? OR... are we both mis-guided on the issue?

It goes something like this:

Great Apes and Lesser Apes separated.

Orangutans and the common ancestor to humans/chimps/bonobos/gorillas separated.

Gorillas and the common ancestor to humans/chimps/bonobos separated.

Humans and the common ancestor to chimps/bonobos separated.

Chimps and bonobos separated. (In truth though some scientists don't consider them separate species and say they are both chimps.)

Which reminds me of a quote from Richard Dawkins stating that humans are more closely related to African Apes than they are to Orangutans.  Therefore not only are we apes, but we are African apes.

"I am an atheist, thank God." -Oriana Fallaci


zack
Posts: 43
Joined: 2007-07-04
User is offlineOffline
Thank you guys for clearing

Thank you guys for clearing this up. It is good to know and better to learn!