It’s not quite right to say that humans evolved from monkeys. If you go far enough back, monkeys didn’t even evolve from monkeys. Humans and monkeys shared an ancestor thousands of generations ago—a creature a little like a monkey, and maybe little like a person, but definitely not one or the other.

Evolution isn’t like a ladder, with single-celled organisms at the bottom and humans at the top. Each living thing is the pinnacle of evolution, adapted from the most basic life form over billions of years to suit its own environment. Humans are great at being humans, but monkeys are best at being monkeys, and hagfish can’t be beat at being hagfish… We all just adapt to the pressures our environments place on us.

Curious about evolution? Wondering how we study it? Leave your questions for PZ Myers, and check back on sciencebuzz.org for the answer!

Like chimps, gorillas, and orangutans, humans are members of the Hominidae family. But people didn’t evolve from any of the apes that are alive today—humans and the other apes just share a common ancestor.