If humans came from chimps, why are there still chimps?

Ah, the age-old question. I have heard this response through many debates with people who do not necessarily believe in evolution. if I may reiterate, "If humans came from chimps, why are there still chimps?"

        The easy answer is: Along our long line of ancestors, both us the humans (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) have a common ancestor from where we diverged with "chimps." This is where our lines separated, and we both were apart of a different lineage. 

Dr. Jane Goodall with orphan chimpanzee Uruhara at the Sweetwaters Sanctuary in Kenya.

MICHAEL NUEGEBAUER / JANE GOODALL INSTITUTE

Well, that was a bit boring, don't you think. 

let's get to the fun stuff!

        The maybe more complex detailed answer is: Surprisingly humans and chimpanzees have more than 98 percent of DNA and 99 percent of genes (Mikkelsen et al. 2005). Like I had mentioned before, we share a common ancestor with modern African apes like chimps and bonobo. A lot remains unknown about the common ancestor of living apes and humans. Fossil evidence from this part of the primate family tree is scarce. An estimate of their last common ancestor was proposed to be 10 to 13 million years ago, and a range of 7 to 10 million years ago (Arnason et al. 1998; White et al. 2009).

        The fossil record is pretty dainty, so we have to rely on the chimpanzee sequenced genome. 

In 2000, Orrorin tugenensis and Sahelanthropus tchadensis appeared to belong to the human line and dated between 6 and 7 million years ago (Brunet et al. 2002; Pickford & Senut 2001). It was thought that molecular clocks placed the split between humans and chimpanzees at only around 5-6 million years ago. Now the fossil record had pushed the date back, so we know that molecular clocks have to be looked at again.

O. tugenensis

                                            S. tchadensis

There are so few fossils from 4 million to 12 millions year ago, so it is hard to have a clear understanding of how gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans split from each other. We will never know the exact answer to this question, but as more scientists discover new species to add to the fossil record, we will slowly be able to put all the pieces to the puzzle. Science always changes because new things are always discovered. One thing that we do know is that we are sure as hell did not come from chimpanzees lets just call them our distant cousin.

I will leave you off with a juvenile chimpanzee using a tool to get a snack.

                                      References

Arnason, U., Gullberg, A., & Janke, A. (1998). Molecular Timing of Primate Divergences as Estimated by Two Nonprimate Calibration Points. Journal of Molecular Evolution, 47, 718–727.

Brunet, M., Guy, F., Pilbeam, D., Taisso Mackaye, H., Likius, A., Ahounta, D., Beauvilain, A., Cile Blondel, C., Bocherensk, H., Boisserie, J.-R., de Bonis, L., Coppens{, Y., Dejax#, J., Denys#, C., Duringerq, P., Ra Eisenmann#, V., Fanone, G., Fronty, P., Geraads, D., … Zollikofer, C. (2002). A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa. Nature, 418, 145–151. www.nature.com/nature

Mikkelsen, T. S., Hillier, L. W., Eichler, E. E., Zody, M. C., Jaffe, D. B., Yang, S. P., Enard, W., Hellmann, I., Lindblad-Toh, K., Altheide, T. K., Archidiacono, N., Bork, P., Butler, J., Chang, J. L., Cheng, Z., Chinwalla, A. T., Dejong, P., Delehaunty, K. D., Fronick, C. C., … Waterston, R. H. (2005). Initial sequence of the chimpanzee genome and comparison with the human genome. Nature, 437(7055), 69–87. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04072

Nengo, I., Tafforeau, P., Gilbert, C. C., Fleagle, J. G., Miller, E. R., Feibel, C., Fox, D. L., Feinberg, J., Pugh, K. D., Berruyer, C., Mana, S., Engle, Z., & Spoor, F. (2017). New infant cranium from the African Miocene sheds light on ape evolution. Nature, 548, 169–174.

Pickford, M., & Senut, B. (2001). Millenniuim Man: Orrorin tugenensis. CR Acad. Sci.

White, T. D., Asfaw, B., Beyene, Y., Haile-Selassie, Y., Lovejoy, C. O., Suwa, G., & Woldegabriel, G. (2009). Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids. Science, 326(5949), 75–86. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1175802