If humans died out, would we evolve again from apes?

Without humans in the way there's nothing to say that our ape cousins couldn't go on to evolve to have greater intelligence.

Luis Villazon

Asked by: Douglas Butcher, Callington

Maybe, if we were wiped out by a species-specific plague, it's possible that another ape species might go on to evolve greater intelligence and develop a fully bipedal gait.

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Luis Villazon

Q&A expert

Luis trained as a zoologist, but now works as a science and technology educator. In his spare time he builds 3D-printed robots, in the hope that he will be spared when the revolution inevitably comes.

If humans died out, would we evolve again from apes?

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