Roots

. . . roll-over image links for previews or follow the theme trails by clicking on each image to proceed to the next . . .

Biological evolution generated us from a common ancestor that also gave rise to chimpanzees and bonobos. (This hominid timeline implies a linear evolution for hominids, whereas a pruned bush would be more accurate.)

We share more than 98% of our DNA sequences with chimpanzees, indicating that our evolutionary lines diverged 7 to 5 million years ago. In general, the later the analysis, the more recent the esimated split. The ancestor of chimpanzees and bonobos are estimated to have split again between 0.89 and 0.86 million years ago, and the two common chimpanzee subspecies are estimated to have diverged about 0.46 million years ago.

Even though our advantages over our cousins result from a regulatory-gene-mutation that permitted development of a greater brain/body size ratio, biological mutation/reproductive selection did not care whether or not we were otherwise inherently vastly superior in rationality/morality.

We seem to have inherited from this common ancestor a nature that lies somewhere between aggressive chimpanzies and sex-obsessed, peaceful bonobos. Possibly chimpanzees and bonobos diverged from a midway-natured common ancestor. The environments in which chimps and bonobos now live are comparatively more challenging in the case of chimps, no doubt necessitating – and so selecting for – their aggressive behaviour.

. . . continue