Asked by: Clare Ellis, Lancaster
Contrary to widespread belief, we didn’t evolve from apes, but both apes and humans evolved from a common ancestor that existed perhaps 10 million years ago (technically we still are apes).
But even if that common ancestor still existed, the fact that evolution is the result of both random mutation and a process of natural selection imposed by environmental conditions, means it’s highly unlikely that it would ever retrace its steps in quite the same way.
Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.
