In science fiction . . .

[Heraclitus]

Dogs and wolves are the same exact species (Canis Lupus). They've only been separated for a measly 15,000 years.

I'm pulling the following out my ass but it makes sense since our species left Africa between 125K and 60K years ago and our average life-span is about 4-5x that of wolves/dogs so it makes sense...

There's probably more genetic difference between a Korean and a Nigerian than between a wolf and a dog. At the very least, the Korean's ancestors were separated from the ancestors of the Nigerian AT LEAST as many generations as dogs are separated from wolves.

I don't think most people realize that Fido is a wolf through and through.

It goes a bit further than that, Neanderthals left africa 600 000 years ago, and we now know they managed to interbreed with Homo Sapiens half a million years later just fine.

Also Wolves can interbreed with Coyotes.

[Al B. Sure!]

Regardless, dogs and wolves have fewer generations separating them than some distant human ethnic groups.

Do you think what I said is true, though? That there's probably more genetic similarity between wolves and dogs than between far-flung human populations?

[Heraclitus]

Do you think what I said is true, though? That there's probably more genetic similarity between wolves and dogs than between far-flung human populations?

Yeah but that dosen't nesecarilly translates to phenotypical differences. The selection pressures between various breeds of dogs where very different from each other (duh, we made it so that it would be for our gain), its not necessary at all that the selective pressures on various human ethnicities varied by as much, so its possible differences are smaller (again pretty obvious considering that dog breeds differ by appearance more than races of humans).

[MrFun]

Domestic cats differ from one another, even less.

[Docfeelgood]

If man evolved from apes them why are the apes still around?

[Lorizael]

If man evolved from apes them why are the apes still around?

You may have evolved from apes, but the rest of us evolved from a common ancestor between apes and humans.

[MikeH]

More specifically.

Humans are apes, there are other types of apes, and we all evolved from common ancestors.

[Lorizael]

Additionally, you see that argument a lot, but even if the given assumption were true (that we're descended from modern day apes), it's still a stupid argument. It's like asking why people still wear regular glasses now that bifocals exist.

[The Mad Monk]

It's more like asking why there are horses when there are zebras, or cheetahs when there are lions.

[MikeH]

Here's a nice low level summary which is full of all the very obvious facts you need to counter idiotic claims by creationists :

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/evolution/humans-descended-from-apes.htm

[MrFun]

If man evolved from apes them why are the apes still around?

About five to six million years ago, two branches in the primate evolutionary tree diverged. One was one of the branches of great apes that led to modern day chimpanzees. The other branch was a hominid branch that led to modern day humans.

Before this divergence, there were other, older lineages of apes that had diverged that led to primates such as gibbons much earlier, and somewhere in between, apes such as orangutans.

[Docfeelgood]

which branch did the plant life come from?

[Docfeelgood]

More specifically.

Humans are apes, there are other types of apes, and we all evolved from common ancestors.

so apes and humans are cousins in a sense?

[Docfeelgood]

It's more like asking why there are horses when there are zebras, or cheetahs when there are lions.

is one smarter than the other? able to reason?

[Docfeelgood]

Here's a nice low level summary which is full of all the very obvious facts you need to counter idiotic claims by creationists :

http://science.howstuffworks.com/env...-from-apes.htm

interesting article