Why Are Chimps Still Chimps?

Teachers may be posed with such questions as, “If we evolved from chimps, why arc there still chimps?” We provide teachers with answers to this and related questions in the context of the latest genetic, fossil, and behavioral evidence. We also provide references they can use to further students' understanding of human evolution and evolution in general. In the process, we highlight recent discoveries in paleontology, molecular evolution, and comparative genomics. Modern chimps and humans shared a now extinct common ancestor that was neither a chimp nor a human — in other words, humans did not evolve from chimps — and, though chimps are humans' closest living relatives, we arc characterized by distinct evolutionary histories.