This is one of the most common questions people ask about evolution, and it comes from a simple misunderstanding of how evolution really works.
Humans did not evolve from the monkeys we see today. Instead, both humans and modern monkeys share a common ancestor that lived millions of years ago. Think of it like a family tree: you and your cousins share the same grandparents, but you did not come from each other.
Over time, that ancient ancestor species split into different groups. Some of these groups evolved into modern monkeys and apes, while another branch gradually evolved into humans. Each followed its own path, adapting to its surroundings and developing unique traits for survival.
Monkeys are still around today because they continue to thrive in their environments, just as humans do in ours. Evolution does not replace one species with another—it simply allows species to change and adapt in different ways over long periods of time.
In short, we didn’t come from monkeys. We came from the same ancestors as monkeys, which makes them our distant relatives in the great story of life on Earth.
