Apes

Apes belong to the phylum Chordata.

The niche of western lowland gorillas involves living in the dense forests of Central Africa, where they primarily consume fruits, leaves, and stems. They play a crucial role in seed dispersal, helping maintain the diversity of plant species in the forest. Additionally, they are important prey for predators like leopards and are a symbol of the overall health and biodiversity of their habitat.

There is 5 different types of Hominids.

AUESTRALOPITHECUS AFRENSIS

HOMO SAPIEN NETHANDERALES

HOMO SAPIEN SAPIENS (WISE MAN)

HOMO ERECTUS (UPRIGHT MAN)

HOMO HABILIS (HANDY MAN)

Also:

Sahelanthropis tchadensis

Orrorin tugensis

ardipithecus anamensis

Ardipithicus kadabba

Australopithecus anamensis

kenyanthropis platyops

Australopithecus bahrelghazali

Australopithecus africanus

Australopithecus garhi

Austalopithecus sediba

Australopithecus aethiopicus

Australopithecus robustis

Australopithecus boisei

Homo georgicus

Homo ergaster

Homo antecessor

Homo Heidelbergensis

Homo Neanderthalensis

Homo floresiensis

Denisova hominins

but there are probably many more, as yet undiscovered

Current thinking is that humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor and scientists are getting closer and closer to telling us that story of our origins. However, they do not have the definitive answer yet.

On October 9, 2009 scientists announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor to date. It has taken the spotlight off "Lucy", who walked the earth 3.2 million years ago. The discovery was made in Ethiopia. Researchers say it will put to rest the earlier hypothesis of a "missing link" ape that would be found "at the root of the human family tree". The skeleton offers a basis for researchers of what the common ancestor of apes and humans might have been like. There have been astounding archeological discoveries in the last decade that have enabled evolutionists to discard older suppositions and add more information to the story of evolution.

On May 7, 2010 scientists announced they had documented the Neanderthal genome and revealed some interesting facts. We have traces of Neanderthal DNA in our DNA, proving that earlier ancestors assimilated with other early humans.

The study of human evolution is not static. It is going on every day at universities and archeological sights around the world. As new information is discovered the story becomes more accurate. Anyone who can ignore the abundant results of that research is missing out on a treasure trove of interesting information about where we came from.

There have been at least a dozen or so intervening human-like species since hominids and African apes diverged from a common ancestor 5 to 8 million years ago by present estimates. Most of those distant relatives went extinct but the fossil record is abundant with evidence and the chain is always being strengthened through careful research and analysis.

Of course, the fossil record is not as user friendly, or simple to read as a book of faith, written by men who wrote down what they believed based simply on their faith that it must have happened. Scientists have never found their explanations for the way our world works written down in ancient texts. Science reveals its secrets only through a patient study of evidence discovered by painstaking and costly research, funded by universities and governments, performed by people who spend their lives digging for answers.

Once a person has understood that we have solid fossil evidence of the existence of many, many species of earlier hominids that continued to evolve "upward" slowly it should not be so difficult to understand the present thinking among scientists: That one group of apes, in response to their environment, started evolving in a way that would eventually lead to humanity (and many other now-extinct hominids).

See related link.

Charles Darwin did not think that humans evolved from monkeys. Rather, he believed, based on many years of research in the fields of biology and comparative anatomy, that anatomically similar species such as humans, apes, and monkeys probably evolved, over a period of many thousands of years, from a common, ape-like ancestor, now extinct. Recent studies in biology and genetics, using techniques not available in Darwin's time, have confirmed and further clarified his theory. In order to gain a further understanding of Darwin's thinking, you might want to look up "Charles Darwin" and "Evolution" in a variety of encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin). High School and College textbooks of biology may also cover this topic with more or less completeness. Many fine books have also been written on this subject, including Darwin's "The Origin of Species and the Descent of Man" and the fine biographical novel, "The Origin," by Irving Stone.

Genetic evidence, specifically DNA analysis, has shown that chimpanzees share approximately 98% of their DNA with humans, making them our closest living relatives. Additionally, similarities in behavior, social structures, and anatomy between humans and chimpanzees further support this close evolutionary relationship.

The principle that all species were derived from common ancestors is known as evolution. This theory was proposed by Charles Darwin in the 19th century and is supported by evidence from various fields of science, including genetics, paleontology, and comparative anatomy.

Many scientists believe that humans and monkeys share a common ancestor, but it was not an intentional evolution by a god. Evolution is a natural process driven by genetic variations and environmental factors over millions of years.

chimpanzees and orangutans we do think that they are correct but we are still looking and experimenting with it though so we are not quite sure

There is a great difference between the apes and hominids. Apes can be found in trees and also on the land while hominids are exclusively terrestrial. Apes are not fully bipedal like the hominids. Hominids also have a unique characteristic that shows pair bonding with another member and also having a home base, where apes lack that certain developmental trait. It has been shown that apes are not very good with food sharing, while hominids have been shown to care and share food with other members of the group. This is also a development of social groups. Hominids such as the Homo habilis, were discovered with the first making and use of tools and also fire. Apes have not found the ability to make and use tools. Scientific studies also show that the apes have a much smaller brain than the hominids resulting in these vast differences between the two groups.

The process of humans evolving from ape-like ancestors took millions of years. This evolution occurred over a period of approximately 6-7 million years.

The ability to use oxygen in a biological organism evolved long before humans. That does not answer the question, but life on earth would have had to evolve in a totally different way to use nitrogen. Oxygen is a much more reactive element with other elements releasing energy when it reacts, nitrogen is practically an inert element requiring large amounts of energy be added to make it react. Oxygen is so reactive that it was a poison to early living things when the cyanobacteria started releasing it into the atmosphere about 3 billion years ago. Remaining living things to which oxygen is a poison are called anaerobic organisms. The living things that depend on oxygen are called aerobic organisms. Even aerobic organisms that depend on oxygen find its extreme reactivity toxic in many ways and had to evolve complex ways to counter this toxicity, but the tradeoff of much more available energy than anaerobes can get, makes it worth the extra cost of countering the toxicity.

The creationist answer to your question is simply that is just the way God created them. Don't argue, he's God and knows what is best.

ERVs, the fused chromosome #2, biogeographical distribution of species, vestigial genes and structures, ring species, computational genomics and proteomics, and direct observation of evolution (HeLa cells, nylonase bacteria)

For more examples of directly observed speciation, put "observed instances of speciation" into google.

All apes and humans are members of the order Primates.

Human Beings evolved from the mud worm (as did many other species). Scientists recently discovered that before today's Human Being, there were several species of humans that existed in Africa.

References - PBS Documentary, Becoming Human: Nova (Episodes 1-3)

Note: There were no human beings or chimps 4 billion years ago because at that time, the earth was only 600 million years old. Despite what some believe, Humans did not exist when dinosaurs existed.

Modern humans are believed to have evolved in Africa, specifically in the region known as the African Rift Valley. Fossil and genetic evidence suggests that Homo sapiens originated in this area around 200,000 years ago before eventually spreading to other parts of the world.

They are not alike. The most-oft used argument - that humans and apes share 99% similar genomes, has been proven wrong. The only comparisons done so far pertain ONLY to the 1% of the genome which codes for proteins. No comparison has been done between the ENTIRE human genome and ENTIRE chimp genome. Such a huge and costly study would undoubtedly yield a very low similarity. When comparing ONLY the 1% of the genome which codes for proteins, the similarity is between 70% and 96%, depending on the study.

One reason why very few studies have been done on the NON-protein coding portion of the genome is because, for decades, many scientists assumed it was junk DNA - now we know this was completely wrong. So much for assuming. We now realize the NON-protein coding portion is responsible for many important functions such as preserving the genome itself! Also, a recent report unexpectedly found specific sequence patterns in "junk" DNA called "pyknons" which are responsible for determining when and where proteins are made. Furthermore, within this "junk DNA", the areas of greatest difference appear to involve regions which are structurally different (commonly called "rearrangements") and areas of heterochromatin (tightly packed DNA).

The protein coding portion of the human genome has approximately 50% similarity with bananas. There are several reasons why this is so: 1) All life on Earth is based on the same carbon/water system. 2) In order to eat and digest bananas, we must share genomic similarities, otherwise we wouldn't be able to eat bananas in the first place. Genomic similarity among us is required for all of us to live on earth. 3) If we ever found another organism which we DIDN'T share any genomic similarities, that organism would be from a completely different planet with a different life-sustaining system altogether.

While this is still a point of contention among researchers, there are a few leading theories. First, as primates began to migrate away from forested areas, they needed to adapt to be able to move faster on the ground (else they would become easy prey). Because their dexterous hands were so essential to their survival, evolution toward a four-legged primate would be less likely than the development of more effective upright movement.

Answer 1

Current thinking is that humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor and scientists are getting closer and closer to telling us that story of our origins.

On October 9, 2009 scientists announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor to date. It has taken the spotlight off "Lucy", who walked the earth 3.2 million years ago. The discovery was made in Ethiopia. Researchers say it will put to rest the earlier hypothesis of a "missing link" ape that would be found "at the root of the human family tree". The skeleton offers a basis for researchers of what the common ancestor of apes and humans might have been like. There have been astounding archeological discoveries in the last decade that have enabled evolutionists to discard older suppositions and add more information to the story of evolution.

On May 7, 2010 scientists announced they had documented the Neanderthal genome and revealed some interesting facts. We have traces of Neanderthal DNA in our DNA, proving that earlier ancestors assimilated with other early humans.

The study of human evolution is not static. It is going on every day at universities and archeological sights around the world. As new information is discovered the story becomes more accurate. Anyone who can ignore the abundant results of that research is missing out on a treasure trove of interesting information about where we came from.

In 2012 scientists completed the genome of the bonobo, an African ape. When added to the genomes that have already been completed for orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees we now have a complete DNA catalogue of the great apes. The studies show that humans are most closely related to bonobos and chimpanzees. The three are more closely related to each other than any is to gorillas.

Answer 2

In addition to the previous answer, it should be noted that according to classical Linnaean taxonomy and modern cladistics, humans are apes. And since we share that distinction with a number of other species, it must therefore logically be true that the ancestors we and those other species of ape evolved from was also an ape.

This does not mean that they were any species of modern ape, of course. Modern species of ape are derived from the basal clade of apes.

the first subhuman to walk upright was Homoerectus (Upright Man).

Apes (including Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Bonobos and Orangutans) eat primarily fruit and vegetation, however certain apes, such as the Bonobos and the Chimpanzee, have food sources that can range from live prey, such as insects, to small mammals (even other primates, such as monkeys). Therefore, they are omnivores, much like humans. Depending on their location and the amount of food available, an ape will eat just about anything

ranges from 20 to 66 depending on the species