Have you ever wondered why many species of animals that lived in distant centuries no longer exist on the planet today, and some bacteria that were previously easily killed by the action of penicillin today do not even react to this antibiotic? It turns out that all life on earth is influenced by evolution - a process in which the non-stop development of living nature occurs, with constant changes in the genetic composition of living beings and the formation of special adaptations for the survival of a particular species in given conditions. Such adaptations are called adaptations.
Adaptations arise due to mutations that periodically occur in nature. One or more genes may undergo a random mutation, and an individual will be born with a new characteristic (for example, with an increased brain size, changes in skeletal structure). And this can be very useful and even necessary for survival in the conditions in which this species now lives. This “special” individual can not only better adapt to the conditions, but also give birth to offspring in which this new trait will be fixed, helping to survive. Thus, after a certain number of generations, this species can completely change. If adaptations do not occur during life, and living conditions on the planet are constantly changing, at some certain point the species will become unviable and simply disappear.
Let's try to trace the process of human development on earth from beginning to end. How in the process of evolution did we become what we are now and why does the monkey you see in the zoo not turn into a human?
According to scientific classification, humans belong to the class of mammals. The very first ancestors of this class appeared on earth more than 200 million years ago. Their sizes were small (only 10 cm), but the small creatures were very mobile with button eyes. Most likely, they lived in burrows or nests, eating small insects.
And 70 million years ago, the order of primates began to stand out among this class. Then they were small rat-like individuals moving along the treetops.
30 million years ago, flat-nosed monkeys and monkeys began to actively evolve. Then their development took different paths. The first became the ancestors of modern gorillas and orangutans. Scientists consider chimpanzees to be the closest relative of humans. 98.4% of human and chimpanzee genes are identical. This fact indicates a very close relationship.
All primates, and humans, as you already understand, are also included in this group, have a lot of similar features: our upper and lower limbs have 5 fingers, at birth one or more babies are born, who are attached to their mother for a long time and not can live independently. The structure of the teeth and maxillofacial part of the head suggests the ability to chew various types of food. Humans, modern gorillas, chimpanzees, and orangutans have a common distant ancestor, and this is our similarity. Modern apes, like humans (especially chimpanzees), are social animals that use tools in their activities that help them obtain food (albeit primitive tools). For example, sticks broken from tree branches help them catch insects living underground. The food obtained is always distributed among the members of the entire herd.
It should be understood that all modern species of primates and humans have common ancestors. In the process of centuries-old evolution, descendants began to evolve from the progenitor in different directions, acquiring new useful qualities and characteristics, over time forming new separate species that are no longer capable of transforming into each other. In other words, today's chimpanzees and gorillas cannot evolve into humans. Man could only have appeared from anthropoid apes of past centuries, from which all existing branches of primates originated.
The human branch of development appeared in the African savannas. Our ancestors came down from the trees and began to develop grassy spaces. During the rainy season, the savannas are full of lush vegetation: leaves, grass, bushes grow everywhere. During the dry season, everything around dries up. This is such impermanence. Primates needed to adapt to conditions of both abundance and complete lack of food. In dry moments, they learned to obtain seeds and nuts, but for this they needed their upper limbs. Having freed their hands to search for food, such primates now began to walk on two limbs, and the size of their brains increased. Humanoid creatures appeared - hominids. Their appearance dates back to 9 million years ago. During excavations in Ethiopia, a female skeleton was discovered that resembles a hominid from that period. This valuable find was given the name Lucy; her height was small and was less than 130 cm. But this species of hominid, to which Lucy belonged, disappeared over time. They were replaced by more advanced creatures. Their brains were much larger, and they used stone tools rather than just wooden sticks. They were hunters and gatherers. Scientists called this type of people Homosapiens (reasonable man). Presumably, it appeared 40 thousand years ago.
Modern man moves in an upright position, uses complex technical devices in his activities, uses a whole system of sound symbols (speech) in communication, masters written symbols for transmitting information, acquires and develops skills, knowledge and abilities that he is able to transfer to children, and is not limited by his environment. , can live in conditions with different climates. Human ancestors disappeared from the face of the earth long ago.
Today's primate species have much in common, but will never be able to transform into each other. Although, scientists admit that if the human branch dies out, a new species resembling humans may appear from the existing species of monkeys. But this is just a theory.

Line UMK V.V. Pasechnik. Biology (5-9)

Biology

Why don't all monkeys turn into humans?

We know that multicellular organisms evolved from single-celled organisms, and reptiles were once amphibians. However, just as with monkeys, single-celled organisms and amphibians did not cease to exist. Not all fish were able to get out of the water and become four-legged, and not all reptiles evolved into mammals. Even if we choose a less global example, we all know very well that not all birds became cranes, not all plants became sequoias, not all mushrooms became boletuses.

Such examples can be given endlessly, but one thing is clear - each species of living beings is unique. The evolution of one creature into another occurs due to many different factors, happy (or not so happy) coincidences, a huge number of reasons. It is impossible for two different creatures to have all the factors and accidents coincide, and for them to begin to evolve in the same way. Such a transformation is as incredible as the same work by two different poets, or if identical nationalities with identical language and culture arise on two islands.

I see a goal, I go towards it

There are several common misconceptions about the phenomenon of evolution. The first mistake is the idea of ​​“purposive evolution.” Allegedly, all transformations occur for a reason, but with a specific ultimate goal. According to this idea, everything began with the simplest organisms, gradually evolving into more “advanced” creatures. However, this assumption is fundamentally incorrect. Development from simple to complex is progress, but progress in evolution does not happen as often as we would like. Only a small number of creatures manage to become more complex. On the contrary, many organisms become “simpler” during evolution, which does not in any way affect them negatively.

Most often, in the development of life on Earth, the emerging species did not become a replacement for the old one, but was added to it. That is why there are so many different species on our planet at the moment - biodiversity reigns supreme. Of course, some animals ceased to exist, but an abundance of new species replaced this loss. So, instead of huge dinosaurs, reptiles and other creatures remained, and the “newly appeared” man joined the primates, and did not replace them all.

The crown of creation

The second misconception regarding evolution: the idea that man is the final evolutionary goal. As if the very phenomenon of evolutionary progress was aimed at ensuring that man appeared at the end of his journey.

However, biologists have not found any evidence of such a theory. It would be fair to argue that the history of the development of creatures before the advent of man is similar to the fact that we - humans - were the ultimate goal. Single-celled organisms, having overcome many “tests,” once evolved into the first animals, then into the first chordates, then into the first fish, tetrapods, reptiles, beast-toothed lizards, the first mammals, and then into primates, monkeys and humans. But man became the “crown of creation” only in this chain of evolution, and other creatures had their own evolutionary chains, for example, the tiger or the elephant.

Our relative is the dolphin

It is also worth noting that if we compare pedigree lines, then the human line at different stages of its evolution converges with the pedigrees of other creatures. For example, with the most common mosquito we are related by the stages of development from single-celled organisms to primitive worm-like animals.

But we have even more in common with the dolphin - the differences begin only at the stage of development of ancient mammals. It turns out that all organisms and creatures up to ancient mammals are common to the dolphin, and then the paths of evolution diverged. In this case, on what basis do we have the right to consider our own branch of development to be the most important, and consider ourselves to be the ultimate goal? After all, a dolphin can just as easily see itself on the pedestal of evolution, and consider us an unimportant branch of progress. All species now living on planet Earth have a rich and amazing evolutionary history. And, naturally, each species is the pinnacle of its development, its evolution.

Charles Darwin - English scientist, naturalist and traveler, creator of one of the first general studies on the origins of man. He substantiated the idea that all types of living organisms evolve over time and descend from common ancestors, and considered natural selection to be the main mechanism of evolution. Later he developed the theory of sexual selection.

To each according to his needs

But how can the same dolphin be the pinnacle of evolution, if it is man who has the smartest brain? We also have a complex communication system that other creatures cannot boast of.

Indeed, it is so. But here a reasonable question arises: is our brain really needed by a dolphin or our speech by a mosquito? Each species has its own special properties, and these properties are important to them like no other. The ability to swim or run fast, the ability to camouflage, spit poison, emit a pungent odor - all these are special skills that are much more useful for their species than our ability to say a witty phrase. In addition, animals most often need the unique properties to survive - and this is the main thing in life. But you still need to get used to the human brain - learn to collect information, be able to use it, master new skills. It takes a lot of time for the evolution of the brain and the development of culture, and you need to be able to survive every day.

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Are there any benefits to having big brains?

Man does not have the largest brain. Of all living creatures, elephants and cetaceans can boast of such a solid “acquisition”. But a big brain is not at all equal to the amount of information, skills and abilities. Nature has endowed elephants and whales with large overall sizes, so the size of the brain compared to their other body parts and organs is not so prominent. Why, then, did evolution not create a big brain in the body of a small creature?

Surprisingly, a big brain brings big problems. For example, a large brain requires a large amount of calories to function properly. Consequently, all owners of such brains will need to work hard to be able to “feed” their brains. A large brain also makes childbirth difficult. At a time when medicine did not yet exist, as such, many mothers and babies died during childbirth precisely for this reason.

In addition, the surrounding nature illustrates with many examples a calm existence even in the absence of a large brain. All the more surprising is the combination of circumstances in which the choice of evolution unexpectedly fell on an increase in the brain of the monkeys that became our distant ancestors.

It was the human “smart brain” that allowed us to immerse ourselves in thinking about the origin of life on Earth in general and about who man came from in particular. It was man who first began to speculate about why other animals did not become humans, and whether it was possible that another such intelligent species would ever appear.

However, evolution did not take place over a couple of decades, so it is very difficult to notice any worthwhile changes experimentally. Since chimpanzees mature and reproduce too slowly, such observations will take not just a couple of centuries, but several thousand years. The real observations began relatively recently - several decades ago. And even if monkeys have already begun to evolve, scientists cannot yet track this fact. And it is also worth remembering that evolution requires special conditions, a combination of circumstances, and in conditions of a limited territory, the “dominance” of the planet by people, it is unclear whether the monkeys themselves need this evolutionary leap. Perhaps, after a few million years, another intelligent species similar to humans will appear. Or maybe it will be a species significantly superior to us in all respects, since by that time completely different qualities will be needed for survival. In short, time will tell.

The question is relevant for people who are opponents of the theory of Charles Darwin, as well as for those who are lost in the wilds of the science of biology.

There are several theories to explain this phenomenon. A.M. Tsarev believes that the process of transformation of a monkey into a human is extremely long and takes from 3 to 5 million years. It is during this period that the monkey’s brain will be able to grow to the size of the brain of a habilis person.

And if we take into account the fact that the person is skilled, whose brain weight was 650 cubic meters. cm, turned into modern homo sapiens with a brain size of 1300 cubic meters. see only for 2 million years, in this case you can make simple calculations to determine the time of transformation of a monkey into a rational being. The scientist divided 2 million years into the difference between the brains of Homo habilis and modern ones. It turns out that the human brain increases by only 1 cubic meter. see at 3076 years old!

Naturally, over such a long period of time, humanity simply will not be able to observe how a monkey turns into a human.

Adherents of another theory argue that the species of monkeys from which man descended simply does not exist in the modern environment. It is assumed that our ancestors were either steppe monkeys (australopithecines) or semi-aquatic carrion-eating monkeys. Moreover, the emergence of the human race would not have been possible if not for a change in certain climatic conditions, in which a warm swampy environment was replaced by a cold pre-glacial biotope.

It was this situation that created the need for monkeys to fight for existence, and as a result, the emergence of the first rational thoughts and actions. At the same time, the first tools were used to obtain food. Modern living conditions do not dictate such conditions, therefore the emergence of a new anthropogenesis (the transformation of the ape into homo sapiens) does not occur.

No matter how different all the theories of the origin of man from the ape may be, no matter what arguments and facts scientists are guided by, they all agree on one thing. The emergence of a new man from a monkey is also impossible for the reason that during the process of evolution the ecological conditions of the habitat of these animals were destroyed. Man has taken a dominant position on Earth and simply will not allow a new species to develop.

Perhaps in the distant future, Homo sapiens as a species will become extinct, and then, subject to certain climatic conditions, a new individual of anthropoid apes will appear, which will become an alternative to Homo sapiens.

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February 12 will mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the English naturalist Charles Darwin. And in November it is 150 years since the main work of his life, “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,” was published.

Order out of chaos

“As a staunch supporter of Darwinism, Papa Carlo, before making Pinocchio, carved a monkey out of a log.” (Anecdote) It is difficult to find a scientist whose name is associated with as many anecdotes as the name of Darwin. Although his theory that all species of animals - and even man himself - descended from more primitive ones, is still considered the foundation of biological science.

The basis of Darwinism is natural selection. Some individuals adapt better to environmental conditions than others, and therefore survive. For example, a butterfly has a new wing color that allows it to hide among plants. The predator does not notice it - it eats another butterfly that easily stands out in the environment. The first one remains alive and gives birth to offspring, in which an external characteristic in the form of camouflage coloring is fixed. According to Darwin, nature acts “at random”: the main thing is to create more different individuals, and then the fittest will survive. So, about 25 million years ago, a group of tree monkeys climbed to the ground and began to explore open spaces. Their descendants learned to walk on their hind limbs, use objects to obtain food, their brains began to enlarge - and in the end, “Homo sapiens” appeared to the world.

“Darwin’s merit is that he found the answer to the question: due to what does evolution acquire a directed character? It is precisely due to selection,” explains Alexander Markov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - However, evolution has an amazing, difficult to explain property - a progressive orientation, movement from simple to complex. In fact, how did mammals and humans “grow” from the simplest single-celled organisms? After all, common sense and the laws of physics say that “by itself” everything is only destroyed and simplified: an airplane will never be assembled from the wreckage by itself, but you can go back.”

In the 20th century, many things were added to Darwinism. For example, everyone (including Darwin himself) was tormented by the question: if animal species were constantly changing, where were the intermediate forms? The answer was given by geneticists: mutations are spasmodic. That is, biological characteristics can change dramatically and a new species is formed over several generations.

Or maybe degradation?

“Looking at the man, the monkey thought: “There is no limit to my perfection!” (Anecdote) Opponents of Darwinism, as a rule, are dissatisfied with the well-known thesis: “Man descended from apes.” Darwin himself, pointing to the origin of Homo sapiens from primates, called man “the miracle and glory of the Universe,” but this is not enough for us! The main argument is still the same - the complex could not develop from the simple. This means that our ancestors were created as a result of an intelligent design either by the Creator, or, at worst, by the inhabitants of other planets. It is noteworthy that there is no particular contradiction between Darwinism and these theories. In other words, the Almighty could have used evolution in the creation of living nature, as many now believe.

What about the scientific evidence? Anthropologist Alexander Belov agrees that species change and adapt, but draws a different conclusion from this: it is not evolution that is taking place, but involution, all living things are degrading and becoming smaller! “I prove that the changes went in the opposite direction - initially perfect species were transformed into more primitive ones that adapted to new living conditions. Why do lobe-finned fish have developed limbs like terrestrial vertebrates? Yes, because animals moved from land to the ocean, and not vice versa. Why does a pig embryo have five fingers, and the face of its embryo is similar to the face of a primate? There are a lot of such examples.”

And American researcher Michael Cremo has been collecting information about archaeological finds hidden from the public for many years. “They do not fit into the scale of human development accepted by Darwinists, so they are not written about in textbooks or exhibited in museums,” Michael Cremo said in an interview with AiF several years ago.

In general, the point has not yet been made in Darwin's theory. His beautiful hypothesis forces us to look for answers to new questions, including the main one: where did life come from? By the way, to another super-popular question - why doesn’t a monkey turn into a human now? - Senior researcher at the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University Sergei Ivnitsky answers with humor: “Who would give it to her?!” Well, will she get down from the tree and where will she go? Will it go out onto the highway? Will it capture oil wells? Monkeys have long since moved away from the same branch as humans. We mastered our habitat, they remained in theirs.”

“Darwin was a wise man - he gave us the opportunity to at least somehow explain our idiotic actions.” (Anecdote) You may not believe in his teaching, but at least for this it is worth thanking him.

Firstly, evolutionary theory does not use the term “transformation” when drawing family ties between humans and modern apes. Evolution is more complex than simple transformation; it is a long process in which multiple external factors are also involved. Secondly, enormous time intervals are required for their appearance, selection and consolidation in highly organized organisms. The short life of not even a single individual, but of all humanity, will not allow us to keep track of evolutionary changes. But man still manages to observe the progress of evolution, only on a microscale. There are known mutations in the simplest organisms - microbes and microbes - that manage to acquire, for example. Thirdly, man did not descend from those modern ones that exist today. Humans, along with hundreds of species of other monkeys, belong to the higher primates. They have many similarities with each other, and it is based on the fact that once there was a single ancestor. It was a miniature mammal, the size of a rat, that appeared about 70 million years ago and climbed trees. It was soon separated from it (30-40 million years ago), and then completely replaced by monkeys and flat-nosed monkeys monkey. Perhaps among them there was a common ancestor, who was more likely to be similar to chimpanzees, because it is with him that humans have the greatest coincidence of genes. During the development of the savannas by this ancestor, important changes took hold, among them: upright walking, as a result of which the hands were freed, and an enlargement of the brain. These creatures were no longer monkeys, but they were not yet humans either, so they were called hominids. Their first remains found are 9 million years old; since then, hominid species have replaced each other, displacing each other. Those who survived were those who could adapt better to the conditions, who had larger brains, who could organize hunting, and make tools. Modern people belong to the species Homo sapiens. This species arose approximately 50,000 years ago and is the only one that mastered speech. Although the genes of humans and chimpanzees coincide by more than 98%, nevertheless, this is now a parallel branch of the development of animals similar to humans. An example could be the heirs of your great-great-grandfathers’ siblings. They would be relatives to you because they once came from the same family, but distant because... They have long since crossed the line of second cousins. And if this shift occurs within four generations (that's about 170 years), then imagine what the gap between humans and chimpanzees is if approximately 30 million years have passed.