Problem 12Taylor, Simon, Dickey, Hogan - 10th Edition
Textbook Question
Textbook Question
One of the misconceptions about human evolution is expressed in the question 'If chimpanzees were our ancestors, then why do chimpanzees still exist?' Use Figure 19.10A to explain the answer.
Verified step by step guidance
1
Examine the phylogenetic tree in Figure 19.10A, which shows the evolutionary relationships among various primates, including humans and chimpanzees.
Identify the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees on the tree. Note that humans and chimpanzees share a more recent common ancestor with each other than with any other primates.
Observe that the tree branches out from this common ancestor, indicating that humans and chimpanzees evolved from this shared ancestor along different evolutionary paths.
Understand that the existence of a common ancestor does not imply that one species evolved directly from another. Instead, both species evolved separately from a shared ancestor.
Conclude that chimpanzees still exist because they are not our ancestors but rather our evolutionary cousins, having evolved along a separate lineage from the same ancestral primate.