Did Humans Evolve from Monkeys? Nope and Here Are Why!

Did humans evolve from monkeys? At some point in time, we all believed this given how certain humans behaved and how intelligent certain apes were. But latest discoveries have proven Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution wrong. 

Monkey to Human Evolution

Do you know that Charles Darwin’s book ‘On The Origin of Species” has mentioned the term evolution only once as a verb? The first edition of the book described how humans, chimpanzees and other primates could have had the same ancestor at one point in history given the similarities in our genes and DNA structure.

The theory of humans evolving from apes came 150 years later following several misunderstood editions of Darwin’s original works that started circulating the market under several names answering the question “Did Humans Evolve from Apes?”. 

The 4 million-year-old fossil of Lucy found in Ethiopia stands as strong evidence that humans and chimpanzees shared a common ancestor 10 million years ago but never belonged to the same species in the past.  

Did Humans Evolve from Chimpanzees?

Not at all. Chimpanzees and humans have existed alongside each other for centuries now. Researchers and scientists were bothered with the question of whether apes, especially chimpanzees could evolve into humans in a few centuries. 

But, recent discoveries have shown that chimps aren’t going to evolve into humans ever because humans never descended from monkeys in the first place. Humans have lost their wisdom teeth, thick body hair, and bone strength due to evolution. Other primates have also undergone such evolutionary changes but none of these changes pertain to them becoming humans. 

Most of the primates have adapted rapidly to the changing environment, developed a better social culture within their groups. While chimpanzees in captivity did pick up some human traits and skills the same cannot be seen in the wild. In fact, chimpanzees have evolved more than humans in the past few decades to survive better.

Evolution of Humans

Yet another important aspect of ‘Did humans evolve from monkeys?’ is natural selection. Though animals have a strong urge to reproduce, females would often reject a male if she doesn’t find him attractive and strong. Humans on the other hand have evolved past this barrier. 

Where Did the First Humans Come From?

Homo erectus was the most human-like fossil found but they lacked the ability to speak and were found only in Africa. Home Heidelbergensis, Neanderthals, and Denisovans evolved later on with the ability to speak, enhanced brain size, increased lifespan, migrated habitually and learned to control fire. 

Though there was inbreeding between the three groups, Heidelbergensis were primarily responsible for the evolution of Homo Sapiens AKA humans while the other two went extinct in the past 2 million years.

Are you ready to play a quiz on ‘Did Humans Evolve from Monkeys’?