April 15, 2014
Evolution According to Chimps
Chimpanzees have come a long way since the origin of life on Earth. Just like the species
of Homo sapiens, or human beings, have as well. Some people will tell you that Homo
Sapiens evolved from chimpanzees, but they are incorrect. Humans did not evolve from us,
but we do share a common ancestor. Examining the human now can give some insight as
to the traits chimps have acquired during evolution.
Most importantly, two traits called “pendtadactyly” and “orthograde.” Pendtadacatyly is
the name for the trait of having five fingers and toes. Orthograde is the name for the trait of
the upright body position. Humans have had these traits ever since they went bipedal, but
chimps appeared to have held onto their primeval traits longer than humans did.
In the very beginning of time, primates appeared to look more like a modern day rodent.
But, in fact, scientists have been able to prove that the earliest rodent-looking primates are
linked to modern day Old World Monkeys such as gibbons, and large bodied apes. They
slowly grew larger and became able to utilize more of their body to accomplish tasks. In
chimpanzee history, the species Pan is one that can we can call our closest known ancestor.
Bonobos might believe that Pan is closer to them, but after researching fossilized tooth