Humansandchimpanzeeshaveacommonancestor.

Lotsofpeopleknowthatthe
humansclosestrelativeisachimpanzee/apebutlotsofpeopledon'thow,why,orwhat
humanevolutionis.It'simportanttoknowwhathumanevolutionis,whatscientistfoundout,
andthetreeoflife.

Thestoryofhumanevolutionstartedabout6millionyearsagoinAfrica.Itsaverylong
processofwhatourancestorswentthroughtobecomemodernhumans(Brass,2013)and
theoriginsofhumansandthatallhumansoriginatedfromtheapelikeancestors.There's
scientificevidencethatshowsthephysicalandbehavioraltraitsbetweenallthepeoplethat
originatedfromapelikeancestors.

Sincescientistsdevelopedtheabilitytodecodethegenomeandcomparethegenetic
makeupofspecies,theyhavefoundoutthatabout98.5%ofthegenesinhumansand
chimpanzeesareidenticalbuttherearealsothingsthatwehavedifferentfromthemlike
humanbrainsarebiggerandmorecomplex,andwewalkuprightinsteadofonallfours
andwecanspeak.Thismeansthatchimpsaretheclosestrelativestohumansitdoesnt
meanthathumansevolvedfromchimpanzeesbutthathumansshareacommonancestor
withapesandthatmakesusdistantcousins.Sowearerelatedtothembutwedidnot
descendfromthem.(Pearson,2013)

Thereissomethingcalledthetreeoflifeanditdemonstratesthewayalllivingthings
evolvedoverbillionsofyearsagoconnectingtoacommonancestor.Asyouseeinfigure1
Everybranchonthetreerepresentsaspecies.Theforkseparatingonespeciesfrom
anotherrepresentsthecommonancestorthateachpairofspeciesshared.Whichshows
thatalllifeisinterconnected.Buttheyaren'tpositiveofhowmanyyearstheyhavebeen
separateditcouldbemillionsorbillionsyearsofevolution.Thisisgoodtoknowbecauseit
directlyshowsyouhowallthelivingthingsareinterconnectedandshowswhichanimalthey
arerelatedtothemost.(Kurzenco,2001)

Therearelotsofpeoplethatdon'tbelieveinevolutionandjustthinkit'satheory.It'sa
scientifictheorybutthereislotsofevidenceandit'simportanttoknowaboutitespecially
whathumanevolutionis,whatscientistthink,andthetreeoflife.

Figure1

Inthisfigureitsshowinghoweveryspeciesinconnectedandwhattheyareconnectedby
andwhichanimalsandspecies.

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932663.html
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/natureonline/evolution/treeoflife/darwintree/