If the theory of evolution is valid, why are there still monkeys? (kid asked me yesterday)

There are many types of primates, and we evolved from one particular branch. The other branches progressed in different manners (not necessarily cognitive intelligence).

Because evolution never happened. God created everything.

@jstringham21: Hope that was a joke?

richardhenry is correct. jstringham’s answer is just amusing.

There is this mistake people have with evolution, mistakingly seaching for a “missing link” between apes and humans. The truth is that evolution shows that we evoloved along side the apes from a common ancestor, not from them. A better question is how we could evolve the way Darwin explained without factoring in Lemarckian evolution. That could explain all the different chromosome counts in the different species.

All organisms occupy different niches, with different adaptations suited for these niches.

Oh, well said jstringham21 ~?

Did it work?

richardhenry is correct. It is a misconception that we descended from modern day apes. Apes and humans share a common ancestor.

@osullivanbr, I noticed!

And GA awarded for its first use in the wild. Well played! (except for that dangly question mark… so I’d give ya an 8.8 on your first attempt)

A simple way to put it is that being a monkey still works pretty well. Animals disappear when they are no longer suited to a particular environment, for any number of reasons. As long as a particular organism has what it takes to cope with its environment, then there’s no reason that it would vanish. Others will emerge alongside it as genetic mutations cause variations, but that in itself won’t make the old model obsolete.

jstringham21 is so funny in all his posts and q’s. ~

One other point: Evolution is not a theory, it is a fact. Natural selection is the theory that attempts to explain evolution.

It’s easier if you think of evolution as a tree and not a rope. A tree has many branches and some of those branches are just branches of branches (hope that’s not confusing), but with a rope each section is an extension of the previous section (not the case with evolution).

@robmandu: I was trying out the cheebdragon variation so I was.
Imagine some poor sod coming along to fluther and this is their first question, none of this will make any sense to the poor thing.

Watch the Discovery Chanel it will explain evolution.

@oullivanbr Bravo, I leaned toward my screen, squinted and searched fruitlessly for the tilde on jstringham21’s response.

And lurve for you too, robmandu, for use of the phrase first use in the wild!

Current administration!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

there are still monkeys because there is an evolutionary niche for them to exploit.

and for those that don’t believe in evolution and natural selection… Explain drug resistant TB!

@Litghtlyseared Off topic, but my random brain sometimes finds the juxtaposition of your screen name with the jellyfish avatar unsettling. In the Fluther world, liightly seared jellyfish equals cannibalism, right? :)

Familiarize yourself with the concept of a common ancestor…