The reason modern monkeys do not continue to evolve is because they are perfectly capable of surviving on their own. The 'goal' of evolution is to stay alive and reproduce, and monkeys can do that just as well as we can, or close. The only way for all monkeys to evolve is for every single monkey that didn't mutate to die, and there was nothing to cause that, which is why monkeys still exist today.
As for the bananas, it is beneficial for plants to have their fruits eaten, as they help to spread their seeds.
Actually, as long as the rule "survival of the fittest" is applied to a species (which is the case when looking at monkeys in their natural habitat) evolution will not stop.
Evolution is a very slow process and is driven by 2 factors: The pressure of mutation and the pressure of selection.
Mutations are changes of the DNA structure that !randomly! occur and have no specific purpose, it's a passive process. Most mutations do not change the genetic outcome of the individual since only a small percentage of DNA code is actually important, in fact cells in your body mutate this very second (that's also the reason why cancer is not really a disease that can be cured with medicine, it's a cell randomly mutating its genetic material, translating to proteins that "tell the cell" to multiply exponentially).
Mutation pressure is the amount of mutagenic material in the individuals surroundings, causing a higher mutation rate of the cells (UV light for example). Mutation will only affect an individual that mutates early in development or even before both gametes fuse (another thing to note is that the older the organism, the higher the mutation rate, that's why the risk of a handicapped child is higher when the parents are older). A higher mutation pressure indicates a higher rate of evolution.
Selection pressure is an important factor in the surroundings of a group of idividuals of one species. If by coincidence an individual mutates so that it has an advantage over the others because it doesn't need as much food to survive, it's chances of passing on his genetic material depend on the pressure of selection. If the group of individuals is living in a friendly environment where more than enough food is present the mutated individual doesnt have an actual advantage over the other individuals in his group. The group doesn't have to adapt to its surroundings to survive, therefore the selection pressure is low and the mutated individual will most likely have the same chance of passing on his material as the other individuals.
A rapid change of the environment (a drought, less food available) causes a higher death rate among the other individuals in the group, therefore the selection pressure is high. The individual with the highest chance of survival (our mutated individual) is higher likely to pass on his genetic material and his successors will also have that advantage of having to consume less food. This would most likely lead to spreading the mutated material among the population, allowing it to survive more efficiently. If the mutated individuals become unable to fertilize the non mutated individuals it would potentially lead to the extinction of the original species because the mutated and the normal individuals are in competition with each other (same food sources, same habitats).
This process is of course very unlikely and that's why evolution is so slow. In reality mutations that change the phenotype are usually a disadvantage causing the individual/genetic material to go extinct. If you think about it: There theoretically could have been early humanoid apes that developed the first step to the ability to fly. The reason you cannot fly today is because it was no advantage for the species, because it was only the first step.
Changes through mutations are usually very slight as well. A species will not suddenly grow wings and fly, that's a series of many random mutations, that either A we're an advantage, B didnt change the fitness of the individual, C were developed in an environment with low selection pressure.
Coming back to the statements made:
The reason modern monkeys do not continue to evolve is because they are perfectly capable of surviving on their own.
A: Evolution did not stop for modern monkeys, it's just too slow for us to see/happens in very small and rare steps.
The only way for all monkeys to evolve is for every single monkey that didn't mutate to die, and there was nothing to cause that, which is why monkeys still exist today.
A: The only way for all monkeys to evolve is for one monkey or a series of monkeys to mutate (or experience a chain of mutations for that matter). The advantages over the rest of their species can lead to the extinction of the modern population. The mutated monkeys would take their place. However, this is very unlikely and such a slow process. On top of that, we humans manually change natural selection to our liking, causing this scenario to be almost impossible.
As for the bananas, it is beneficial for plants to have their fruits eaten, as they help to spread their seeds.
A: True but I would have to look up the benefits for the plant on the internet. The green color indicates the consumer the non-ripeness of the fruit, keeping the consumers away until he seeds are fully developed.
Well if evolution is soooo true, and we evolved from monkeys, than why aren't today's monkeys evolving into half-human monkey people?
A: Because evolution is slow and !random! you cannot predict the next step of their evolution process. Also we are talking here about thousands of generations of the species only to change slight things.
How do you explain how a banana fits perfectly in the hand, and has a tab so it can be peeled open, and changes colour to indicate ripeness?
A: Most likely the body of the consumer changed other than the fruit adapting to the consumer. The plants' way to spread its seeds is through its consumers eating the fruits and pooping out the seeds again in random and new locations. The reason Bananas are not as big as a house is because the plant is at an advantage if as many consumers as possible eat its fruits and spread the seeds. The plant did not plan this out, the form and behaviour of the plant are the outcome of millions of random mutations that gave the plant an advantage over the other plants of their species.
Transhuman Plus ShockBolt21
