Creation vs Evolution ♦ Human Evolution

Anatomical differences between humans and apes

There are a lot of common features shared by humans and apes. While evolutionists emphasize those features as proof for a common ancestor, creationists consider those features as a proof for a common Designer. Regardless of those many common features shared by humans and apes, there are a lot of differences that should be also considered.

Speaking about jaws and teeth, apes usually have incisor and canine teeth larger than their molars, a thin enamel and U-shaped jaws. Today we find exceptions to these rules, but a thick enamel of an ape fossil is the most common criteria to declare it as an hominid.

Jaws and teeth, which are the most frequently found primate fossils, were often used to create entire human illustrations even though most of the skeleton was missing. One of the well known apeman fakes is “Nebraska men”, painted with its entire family and habitat from only one tooth. A few years later it has been proved that it belonged to an extinct wild pig.

Ape skulls are very different from human skulls. Humans have a larger vault skull compared to apes and a more curved upper face and forehead, revealing the orbit of the eye from a side view. Apes eye orbit is obscured by the face when looking at the skull from a side view. Also, the human skull has the nose bone, while apes do not have protruding nasal bone.

Leg bones are very important for bipedality. Because humans walk on two legs, evolutionists try to find evidence of bipedalism in fossil apes. But even though today we can see apes that walk on two legs, there are big differences between an ape walking on two legs and a man walking on two legs. And those differences are caused by the bones.

A very important role in holding the weight of the body is the “carrying angle”, defined as the angle between femurs and tibia converging toward the knees. While humans have carrying angles about nine degrees, chimps and gorillas have 0 degrees carrying angle which makes them walk by swinging from side to side in order to hold their body weight. Even apes that have a carrying angle comparable to men, like orangutans, do not walk like humans, but instead they are tree-dwelling creatures.

Human foot is unique in shape and functionality. The big toe of a human is in-line with the foot, while ape’s big toe juts out to the side. Human toe bones are relatively straight, while ape toes are curved and grasp. Also, the weight distribution for a human walk is unique and never found for any kind of apes. When a human walks, the heel of the foot hits the ground. The weight is distributed from the heel along the outer margin of the foot until it reaches the little toe. Then, from there the weight is distributed across the base of the toes until it reaches the big toe.

Hip bones also drastically affect the walk. The shape of the human pelvis is different from those of apes. It is impossible to gain a human walk with the shape of an ape pelvis.