Quote Originally Posted by hazetwostep
i have always been taught a "creation" perspective on the origin of the universe and understand that theory quite well. I am very curious to learn about the evolutionary viewpoint. i certainly do not disagree with the principle of natural selection, but the aspect that assumes we are descendents apes brings some confusion. now for my question...

if apes evolved to eventually become humans as we know them today, why did only some of us evolve and some stay as apes? why did all in between perish, leaving only the beginning and end "products" (apes and human) with no in between?

thanks to anyone who can shed light with an educated, intelligent response!
There are several different reasons organisms evolve. In the case with humans and apes, humans didn't evolve directly from apes. Humans and Apes evolved from a common ancestor. The reason we turned out different than apes can be explained by different modes of speciation (most likely allpatric speciation)

It's a complicated process to track the evolution of species, but we have mapped out a lot of evolution, and many of the common arguments against evolution have been disproven. Evolution is a "theory", but it's regarded as fact by every biologists that I've encountered.