• Question: Why did we evolve? Why arent all apes humans? Why dont apes evolve into humans? Will we evolve any more? Why are apposeable thumbs so important? Why do we have 2 thumbs, 8 fingers and 10 toes?

    Asked by katherined to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Laurel, Maria on 21 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by xlovex, stephenclifton96, tiyamikee.
    • Photo: Laurel Fogarty

      Laurel Fogarty answered on 20 Jun 2010:

      1) we evolved the way we are because we fitted nicely into the environment we live in.
      2) all apes are not humans because they live in different environments on different foods so they evolved to be different
      3) We will probably evolve more, in fact we are always evolving I think- all you need for evolution is variation in traits and selection based on those traits, simple as that!
      4) opposable thumbs are amazing! they evolved because they were very useful, they allowed us to get very very good at making and using tools, without them we wouldn’t have been able to evolve such a complex culture.
      5) we have that number for a few reasons, firstly that is the most useful number for us (in fact they think that we are evolving smaller and smaller baby fingers so some day we might not have them at all!) also we evolved from tetrapods and this was probably the way their limbs were arranged so really we inherited our number of fingers and toes.

      phew! that was lots of questions!

    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Good questions! Humans ARE apes, and we have evolved from an ancestor common to all the other 5 apes who are still alive (orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, gibbons, bonobos). They may change in time, but they won’t turn into humans – who knows how they will evolve! Opposable thumbs are important because they made our hands much more useful for using tools and fine motor skills. Many other primates have them too, so not unique to us! 🙂

    • Photo: Ceri-Wyn Thomas

      Ceri-Wyn Thomas answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      Woah! So many questions! Ok firstly- the notion that we evolved FROM other apes is a bit of a misunderstanding (although it’s very easy to think this way). The Chimpanzee did not suddenly or even slowly morph into a human being. Great Apes including us Homo sapiens all share the SAME COMMON ANCESTOR. This is the key point – other apes as well as humans branched off from the same ancestral animals. Human beings are not the pinnacle of evolution really- we’re just one of many species. Other apes who still dwell in arboreal (tree) habitats are incredibly well adapted to their environment in the way that we are very well adapted to ours- the only difference is that human apes evolved brains capable of processing lots more information. So other apes aren’t going to ‘progress’ into humans- if their own environment changes they will become better or worse adapted and evolution will takes it course. Opposable thumbs are also very important to us since they allow us to manipulate our environment and possibly even aided in the evolution of our advanced brains compared to other apes. We can do fiddly things like tying shoe laces, administer injections or build a motor- other apes can’t do that (even though there are primates out there that have opposable thumbs!). The reason our digits are the way they are is because of our evolutionary relationships to all other mammals who have the same digit configuration albeit in many cases theirs have become adapted for other things like wings or hooves!

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