Did humans evolve from the apes?
Today, one can think of the apes and humans as cousins. They have common ancestors, but have not descended directly from each other. About 5-7 million years ago, a line of man-like apes grew apart, and evolved independently of the other apes. The oldest, almost completely intact skeleton of an upright ancestor of human – the Australopithecus - was found in 1974 in Ethiopia (Africa). The scientists named it ‘Lucy’.
Biologists classify humans as animals and part of the animal kingdom. Like our nearest relatives, the apes, humans are also mammals. Humans have evolved from apes, but there are features that differentiate us from other animals—including apes. These include the upright walk, our opposable thumb, our special ability to communicate by a language, and our highly developed brain. Our brain allowed our ancestors, like the Neanderthals, to invent tools.