Evolution: Why It's True and Where We Came From

Evolution: Why It's True and Where We Came From

The concept of evolution is very confusing to some people, and creationists just like to stir controversy. They voice their opinions and spread propaganda on the subject of evolution and say that it simply doesn't exist. According to them, while having absolutely no evidence, we were 'created'. The truth of the matter is that evolution has existed since the dawn of time. While scientists have found outstanding facts ranging from DNA analysis to skeletal findings, creationists simply go off the bible and believe in strictly literal interpretations of religious texts. The truth is, we weren't created, we simply evolved from apes.

Human beings share 96% of their DNA with a chimpanzee, our closest living relative. Not to mention we share the same anatomical structure with apes. Humans along with all primates share common traits; the same dental structure, large brains, grasping hands, and forward facing eyes. One good example of how we come from apes is vestigiality. It's described as a homologous characters of organisms that have lost all or most of their original function in a species through evolution. An example of this is the appendix in humans which is referred to as a vestigial structure. The appendix was once used for digesting cellulose in our vegetarian ancestors. It no longer has its original function. The reason why people grow wisdom teeth is because they were once used to help grind up tough plant matter. That was until our jaws shrunk due to our eating habits changing. A human tail is present during stages 14 to 22 of human embryogenesis for four weeks. The tailbone is a remnant of that lost tail, which originally assisted with balance and mobility. With all of that said, and so many other vestigial structures in our bodies, it's clear evolution is the reason for who we are.
"We are apes in every way, from our long arms and tailless bodies to our habits and temperament." - Frans de Waal.

East Africa has produced so many fossils, it is almost like scientists have created a family tree dating back to our ancestors. As some have branched off and reached a dead end quickly, others have reached in the hundred thousands of years before dying off. As scientists work their way through history, they can see that man has slowly become less ape-like and more human-like with all of the fossils that have been found. People think that all of these fossils are just of apes, but the real question is what kind of species of apes are these. There are ones that can hunt with weapons, make tools, light fires and walk on two legs. But these certain ape species weren't human either, for example they had arms longer than their legs. Evolution truly took its course, with ape-like creatures disappearing and more intelligent, human-like creatures appearing.

Skulls and fossils have been found in order in sedimentary rock of this transition which is a clear indicator that between apes and humans, these are the missing factors. The evolution of the ape is slow, but over time, each ape-like creature transitioned to the next, and so on which led us to humans. Geneticists found that humans have 46 chromosomes while the great apes have 48. You might be wondering why they have more chromosomes than us; the answer is because two of our chromosomes have fused together. Mitochondrial DNA shows that our nearest ancestor in the animal kingdom is what fossil evidence had already drawn up, the great apes. To make things more understandable, like all other things living on earth, humans evolved from ancestral species.

After it was thought to be extinct over 65 million years ago, the coelacanth was rediscovered alive and well in 1938. They're the closest link between fish and the first amphibian creatures which made the transition from sea to land in the Devonian period (408-362 Million Years Ago). According to creationists, this proves evolution wrong because they believe the coelacanth should not exist right now if it evolved. But this is the perfect example of evolution because there are a wide range of coelacanth species, just like how there are many different species of dogs. The two modern Coelacanths belong to the genus Latimeria, but none of the ancient ones do.

Perhaps creationists don't understand what natural selection means, which is the process of biological traits becoming either more or less common in a population. Populations don't just live in the exact same place, so the animals will evolve differently depending on the type of environment they're living in.