The short answer is yes, Darwin’s conclusion on human origins, despite the limitations of his time, is correct. Scientists today have created genomes which can be translated into immense coded maps that include all of the hereditary DNA of an organism. The Human Genome Project was completed in 2003. The Chimpanzee Genome was completed in 2005, and the Bonobo Genome was completed in 2012.
Bottom line: we share about 98.6% of our DNA with our closest living relatives–chimps and bonobos. The 1.4% difference is where humans pass on the hereditary genes for walking upright (bipedalism) and enlarged brains, our two most striking advances over our hairy, knuckle-walking relatives. The adult chimp’s brain is about 450 cubic centimeters; the modern human brain is about 1,450 cubic centimeters. Within that 1,000 cubic centimeter difference in gray matter lies our human ability for verbal and written languages, conceptual thinking in all the arts and sciences, the ability to create everything from cars, planes, and GPS satellites to nerve gas and nuclear weapons. What a wonderful, horrifying leap our species has made, but how did we get from our common ancestor with chimps about 7 million years ago to this point in evolution? And where is the proof? (to be continued in next post)