Scientific theories suggest that humankind evolved from monkeys, chimpanzees to be exact. That idea was always difficult for me to fathom due to my faith and religious beliefs. Over the last few years, I began leisurely reading more about the concept just out of curiosity and found a lot of very interesting research performed in scientific studies. Now, the concept of chimpanzees and humans evolving from similar ancestry has become an enticing subject and has broadened my mindset. Though, we share many similarities with apes, humans are distinctly different. How is it that a completely different species is made up of almost the exact DNA as you and I?
Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to humans and have an astonishingly similar DNA sequence as well. In fact, less than one percent of the letters that that make up the human genome distinguish humans separately from chimps. This information proves that we, as humans are not so different from the hairy beasts after all. Genetic mutations accrue at a steady rate that reflects the period of …show more content…
People with mutations in this gene are unable to make certain elusive, quick facial movements needed for normal human speech even though they are perfectly capable of actually speaking clearly. This gene was also found in Neanderthal fossils which leads scientist to believe that the evolved form of the FOXP2 gene existed at least half a million years ago. The majority of what separates human communication from other species’ communication is mental ability which corresponds to the size of the brain. The human brain has more than tripled in size since the chimpanzee and human ancestry. ASPM is one of several other genes that controls brain size in humans and other animals. During the time of primate evolution, researchers have found where ASPM went through several periods of changes. Scientists believe that this may be why the human brain has evolved to be rather
Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to humans and have an astonishingly similar DNA sequence as well. In fact, less than one percent of the letters that that make up the human genome distinguish humans separately from chimps. This information proves that we, as humans are not so different from the hairy beasts after all. Genetic mutations accrue at a steady rate that reflects the period of …show more content…
People with mutations in this gene are unable to make certain elusive, quick facial movements needed for normal human speech even though they are perfectly capable of actually speaking clearly. This gene was also found in Neanderthal fossils which leads scientist to believe that the evolved form of the FOXP2 gene existed at least half a million years ago. The majority of what separates human communication from other species’ communication is mental ability which corresponds to the size of the brain. The human brain has more than tripled in size since the chimpanzee and human ancestry. ASPM is one of several other genes that controls brain size in humans and other animals. During the time of primate evolution, researchers have found where ASPM went through several periods of changes. Scientists believe that this may be why the human brain has evolved to be rather