Did we descend from apes?? NO, page 1

Originally posted by Alien DNA
I suppose your right in that respect but why are we so far advanced to anything else on the planet?

well that is a good question.

I think it's currently suggested that 2 gene mutations allowed the development of language and brain expansion. Probably more were involved but it's not a bad starting point for divergence from other apes.

But it's a bit like saying "what is it that allowed primates to be more intelligent than reptiles?" As ToE suggests we also have a common ancestor with reptiles.

EDIT: One mutation is the FOXP2 gene...

Molecular evolution of FOXP2, a gene involved in speech and language
Wolfgang Enard1, Molly Przeworski1, Simon E. Fisher2, Cecilia S. L. Lai2, Victor Wiebe1, Takashi Kitano1, Anthony P. Monaco2 and Svante Pääbo1

Language is a uniquely human trait likely to have been a prerequisite for the development of human culture. The ability to develop articulate speech relies on capabilities, such as fine control of the larynx and mouth1, that are absent in chimpanzees and other great apes. FOXP2 is the first gene relevant to the human ability to develop language2. A point mutation in FOXP2 co-segregates with a disorder in a family in which half of the members have severe articulation difficulties accompanied by linguistic and grammatical impairment3. This gene is disrupted by translocation in an unrelated individual who has a similar disorder. Thus, two functional copies of FOXP2 seem to be required for acquisition of normal spoken language. We sequenced the complementary DNAs that encode the FOXP2 protein in the chimpanzee, gorilla, orang-utan, rhesus macaque and mouse, and compared them with the human cDNA. We also investigated intraspecific variation of the human FOXP2 gene. Here we show that human FOXP2 contains changes in amino-acid coding and a pattern of nucleotide polymorphism, which strongly suggest that this gene has been the target of selection during recent human evolution.
Nature 418, 869-872 (22 August 2002)

www.nature.com...

and the second a myosin gene...

Myosin gene mutation correlates with anatomical changes in the human lineage.

Stedman HH, Kozyak BW, Nelson A, Thesier DM, Su LT, Low DW, Bridges CR, Shrager JB, Minugh-Purvis N, Mitchell MA.

Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. hstedman@mail.med.upenn.edu

Powerful masticatory muscles are found in most primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas, and were part of a prominent adaptation of Australopithecus and Paranthropus, extinct genera of the family Hominidae. In contrast, masticatory muscles are considerably smaller in both modern and fossil members of Homo. The evolving hominid masticatory apparatus--traceable to a Late Miocene, chimpanzee-like morphology--shifted towards a pattern of gracilization nearly simultaneously with accelerated encephalization in early Homo. Here, we show that the gene encoding the predominant myosin heavy chain (MYH) expressed in these muscles was inactivated by a frameshifting mutation after the lineages leading to humans and chimpanzees diverged. Loss of this protein isoform is associated with marked size reductions in individual muscle fibres and entire masticatory muscles. Using the coding sequence for the myosin rod domains as a molecular clock, we estimate that this mutation appeared approximately 2.4 million years ago, predating the appearance of modern human body size and emigration of Homo from Africa. This represents the first proteomic distinction between humans and chimpanzees that can be correlated with a traceable anatomic imprint in the fossil record.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
[edit on 1-2-2006 by melatonin]

[edit on 1-2-2006 by melatonin]

mod edit to shorten link

[edit on 1-2-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]