Evolutionary Scenario

The immediate predecessors of modern man are wiped out, due to disease or a series of natural disasters. The only large primates left are the ancestors of modern chimps, gorillas and the remaining robust australopithicines. What happens next?
 

Keenir

Banned
The immediate predecessors of modern man are wiped out, due to disease or a series of natural disasters. The only large primates left are the ancestors of modern chimps, gorillas and the remaining robust australopithicines. What happens next?

nothing happens next.

the australopithicines and kenyapiths spread into India and Asia and the Middle East, repeatedly radiating into gracile, robust, and other specialist (for a primate) forms.


(what wiped out the orangs?)
 
There is no way to be sure. Evolution is a gradual process of random mutation. We may see something similar to humans. We may see something like Planet of the Apes. We m,ight see giant cochroaches ruling the world. We might not see any species rise to sentience.
 

DISSIDENT

Banned
I have a little skit that may provide a glimpse into the future of this ATL:

I hate every ape I see from chimpan-A to chimpanzee
No you'll never make a monkey out of me...
Oh my God, I was wrong, it was Earth all along
Well you've finally made a monkey
Yes we finally made a monkey
Yes, you finally made a monkey out of meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

I love you Doctor Zaius!


Sorry. Couldn't resist.
 

mojojojo

Gone Fishin'
What other possible directions could primates have taken on the path to sentience (if they got on that path in the first place)
 
The robust australopithicines (which as upright hominids are significantly diverged from the other great apes) would radiate into a variety of other forms, one of which would evolve human-like sentience. I tend to believe that once fully-erect bipedal social apes evolved with hands freed from locomotion and now available fully for manipulation, expansion of the brain and language become almost inevitable.

Human-like sentience does not mean "human" however. Such an intelligence might be radically different from ours and give rise to entirely different social constructs. No reason to presume evolution of technology, religions, or any social systems beyond that of existing apes.
 
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I've read chimps are slowly becoming extinct even ignoring the human pressures on them.

Too specialised or something.
 

mojojojo

Gone Fishin'
The robust australopithicines (which as upright hominids are significantly diverged from the other great apes) would radiate into a variety of other forms, one of which would evolve human-like sentience. I tend to believe that once fully-erect bipedal social apes evolved with hands freed from locomotion and now available fully for manipulation, expansion of the brain and language become almost inevitable.

Human-like sentience does not mean "human" however. Such an intelligence might be radically different from ours and give rise to entirely different social constructs. No reason to presume evolution of technology, religions, or any social systems beyond that of existing apes.
So let's hear some speculation ! What is the culture of these human like non-humans? How do they look?
 
I have a little skit that may provide a glimpse into the future of this ATL:

I hate every ape I see from chimpan-A to chimpanzee
No you'll never make a monkey out of me...
Oh my God, I was wrong, it was Earth all along
Well you've finally made a monkey
Yes we finally made a monkey
Yes, you finally made a monkey out of meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

I love you Doctor Zaius!


Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Get your hands off me you dirty ape!
He can talk, he talk, he can talk, he can talk!
I CAN SING!
Dr. Zauis Dr. Zauis, Dr. Zauis Dr. Zauis oooo Dr. Zauis
Dr. Zauis Dr. Zauis!
Whats wrong with me?
I think your crazy...
On a second opinon...
Your also lazy!
Can I play the piano anymore?
Of course you can!
We'll I could before!

thats awsome
 
11.25.2300.1
As the space/time probe reentered altspace, the screen was blank for a few frustrating minutes. Dr Flobulus had to remind himself this was to be expected. Then, gradually, an image began to form on the videograph - an image of the Earth looking very much like the one he knew. White clouds blanketing most of the globe, vibrant blue oceans, glimpses of green, brown, tan, and white under the clouds. As far as Flobulus could tell, the continental outlines were the same. However, there was a difference. The image showed a half-earth and no lights illumined the night side. A quick gravimetric check also revealed no artificial satellites. This was not a technological earth.

07.13.2301.1 14:05
It took several weeks of hard looking, but Flobulus's robotic probes finally found what he was looking for. As the two robots waddled out of the dense deciduous woods in a place which in Flobulus's world would be North C'kintza, they came across a single upright primate. The creature was about 1.3 meters tall, covered in a mottled black and brown coat of fur except on its face, chest, and palms. Face dark brown, eyes jet black with no whites. It was carrying an ornately shaped woden shaft in its right hand. It had no forehead, but its large cranium expanded to the rear and sides. Yellow teeth, no canines to speak of. Upon seeing the robots, which had been designed to resemble large tortoises, the creature froze in place, staring intently. Flobulus stopped the robots and waited.

07/13/2301.1 15:04
After an hour Flobulus had enough. The creature hadn't budged, except to gently stroke its bright red penis with its free hand - a behavior Flobulus found both disgusting and fascinating at the same time. The microphones picked up no vocalizations other than a vaguely athsmatic drone in the apeman's open mouth breathing. So he sent the robots toward the creature, hoping to prompt some sort of reaction. The ape began to backpedal as the robots approached and adopted a clearly defensive stance with the wooden shaft. It suddently stopped, and before Flobulus could alter the robot's' pre-programed investigative behavior, one of them was slammed on the head by the wooden stick. The images on the videograph spun and then darkened as the computers switched the complete video feed to the undamaged turtle, which adopted the autonomic standard defensive posture with its sensory bulb under its star iron shell. It would be dormant for a while. Flobulus would have to wait.

07/13/2301.12 17:30
Flobulus's console beeped as the robot awoke. The sensory bulb was still retracted, but gravitometric arrays showed it has been moved several hundred meters horizontally and was now several meters below the local ground surface. Unable to contain himself further, Flobulus took over control of the robot and gradually extended the head. He was in an arched enclosure of some sort, seemingly lined with layers of bone. Upon closer observation all of the bone appeared to be from upright primates like the one he first encountered. Some still contained scraps of skin, and all seemed to be glued to the dome by some sort of resin or honey. Although underground, the room was illuminated by what appeared to be bioluminescent insect larvae crawling over the walls. He could see fragments of the other robot littering the earthen floor in the shifting greenish light. There were numerous tunnels issuing from the chamber.

Just then, six upright primates clambered into the room from a chamber located about 3 meters above the floor. They moved gracefully and lithely jumped down to surround the functioning robot. All were male and looked almost identical to the one he encountered in the clearing. They seemed to be communicating through a variety of hand signals, body language, and high silibant whistles. When they noticed the functioning robot, they let out a repetitive unison yodeling hoot. Soon another primate entered the chamber. This one was huge and fat, at least three times the mass of the others. It was comparatively hairless, with yellowish white skin quite apparent under sparse brown fir. It's massive cranium was virtually bald. It supported itself with wooden sticks in both hands and seemed to move with difficulty. Flobulus also observed it was very definitely female. Huge pendulous breasts swung under loose fur as the giant waddled into the room. The males hovered around her bulk, nervously stroking her flanks, clinging to long strands of fur as if for dear life. Two even suckled briefly on the engorged teats for reassurance. With a fwump the huge female sat down on her haunches infront of the robot, staring intently into the videocamera. Unlike the males, she had greenish blue irises, surrounded by whites. To Flobulus, the eyes seemed intelligent. Now, he thought, communication with another sentient species can finally begin. But before he could react, he caught just the blur as a stick came crashing down on the sensor bulb. Darkness. Silence.

07.13.2301.35 18:00
Flobulus shot back from the videograph, painfully stubbing his tail on the wall. He shot it up and down to work out the agony. Great Eggs Be Laid, he thought, is there no other earth with truly intelligent life on it? He scuttled over to the status board to see if any elements of the robot were still functioning. Negative. He looked first with one eye and then the other to make sure. He closed the main circuits with his right hand as the three nimble fingers of his left hand punched in the portal shutdown sequence. Coolants gurgled as the systems obeyed. He looked in the reflective surface of the now dead videograph. A beaked and feathered shape returned the gaze. Vainly, he preened for a few seconds (he was especially proud of his feather crest), then shut down the lights and left the room. Dinner was soon and today the cafeteria was having predigested lemur - his favorite.
 
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