Question

There are those who claim that the theory of evolution cannot be true because the apes, which are supposed to be closely related to humans, do not likewise share the same large brains, capacity for complicated speech, and tool-making capability. They reason that if these features are generally beneficial, then the apes should have evolved them as well. Which of these provides the best argument against this misconception?

A. Advantageous alleles do not arise on demand.
B. A population's evolution is limited by their environment.
C. Adaptations are often compromises.
D. Evolution can be influenced by environmental change.

Answer 1

A. Advantageous alleles do not arise on demand.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to theory of evolution, heritable traits in organisms can change across the generations leading to their evolution. There are many evolutionary forces like natural selection, mutation, genetic drift etc. However, it is incorrect to assume that the advantageous alleles will always be selected in evolution. Accumulation of random mutations, genetic drift or bottle neck effect are independent of this factor. Also, organisms with different degree of beneficial traits can coexist in same time frame. Just because humans evolved in a particular direction does not mean that other organisms will also do so.