(April 19, 2013 at 5:58 pm)Chuck Wrote:(April 19, 2013 at 3:30 pm)Joel Wrote: We didn't evolve from apes. Humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor.
Incorrect. We did evolve from apes.
The common ancester of modern humans and modern apes was itself an animal that fit all the scientific cladisitic definition of an ape. It doesn't matter that particular type of ape is extinct. It was still an ape. So we evolved quite literally from apes.
Furthermore, a human in fact still fit all the scientific cladistic definition of an ape. So we humans are still apes.
So we evolved from apes, and we still are apes.
I think the point he was making was that we didn't evolve from creatures that are around today, which I personally think is a poignant thing to say.
The most common misconception that people in opposition to evolution seem to have, is that we somehow evolved from chimpanzees. Well ofcourse we didn't, and I think that was the original point he was making, just worded it wrong.