Well I'll Be A Monkey's Uncle

killproc writes "A new report suggests that interbreeding between humans and chimpanzees happened a lot more recently than was previously thought. The report, published in the most recent issue of the journal Nature, estimates that final break between the human and chimpanzee species did not come until 6.3 million years ago at the earliest, and probably less than 5.4 million years ago."

Comments

Re:There won't be any controversy here!

[Mr. Slippery]

Humans have some really unique aspects about us as a species. We have advanced language. We have art. We have complex emotions and psychology.

Other animals have language (not as advanced, obviously), have been known to engage in artistic activity, and appear to experience emotion. (Of course we can't say for sure - but then I can't say for sure whether you experience emotion either.) They also show culture, in the form of complex learned behaviors that differ from group to group.

When I asked a professor point blank why the need for art and culture would develop through the course of evolution

Evolution produces all sorts of things that are not "needed" for survival, like peacock tails.