Humans evolved from monkeys

[God of Mr. Hanky]

I think defining your terms might be helpful.

The term "monkey" is not synonymous with the word "ape."

Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Gibbons, and Bonobos are not monkeys. They are apes. So are humans.

All monkeys and apes are primates, however. Somewhere along the line, we all share a primate ancestor.

So your twitter friend is indeed incorrect. We evolved from an early primate ancestor, not a monkey. The monkeys are like cousins to our close Hominoidae Family.

But his point specifically is that we did evolve from monkeys.  The word "monkey" is very important because he's a theist schooling atheists who he says don't actually know anything about evolution.  I've found many sites that explain that humans did not evolve from monkeys, but he won't accept any source unless it's a science journal or equivalent.

Theists don't know the difference between monkeys and apes either, so don't feel bad if you didn't know that.

I believe the essential difference between monkeys and apes is:

1. Apes are indigenous only to Africa
2. Apes don't have tails