For the same reason that there are still other breeds of dogs despite new breeds being developed -- or more to the point, for the same reason that there are still wolves despite the fact that domestic dogs were bred from them.
Or better yet, why aren't there creatures on the earth right now that are in a state of evolution a quarter of the way, half-way, or 3/4ths of the way between an ape and a human?
Because that's not what evolution requires. Are you sure you actually understand it well enough to ask sensible questions about it? Quick, why is there not a dog "half-way" between a dachshund and a beagle? *Think*, man.
Wouldn't we have some primate like that living somewhere in the world, with which we could communicate and reason on a level not quite human but advanced significantly beyond the other primates? Something that maybe even has a partially developed moral sense?
Not necessarily, no. Evolution is not required to "fill in" between divergent species.
But the little light bulb may go off over your head if you stop to ponder that there *have* been other hominoid species, as shown by the fossil record. That answers your question right there, even though they haven't all survived to modern day. As to why they haven't, ask yourself this: Given man's known ability to be remarkably intolerant and violent towards other *races*, just imagine how well he'd treat another humanlike *species*.
Or did evolution just suddenly stop?
Of course not, why do you ask? (Hint: This question of yours is a non sequitur to your other questions.)
So you're saying one day a female ape was pregnant and gave birth to a human? Sounds a bit more far-fetched than the looniest creationist theory. Sorry, there's got to be some "filling in".
But the little light bulb may go off over your head if you stop to ponder that there *have* been other hominoid species, as shown by the fossil record.
I have actually pondered that at great length, and there is no need to insult me or imply that I'm stupid. But that doesn't change the fact that your answer doesn't explain why more such hominoids haven't appeared SINCE the hominoids you are referring to were wiped out. Are the mutant genes suddenly "afraid" to come out after the previous failure? It seems to me that they would just keep on coming.
That answers your question right there, even though they haven't all survived to modern day. As to why they haven't, ask yourself this: Given man's known ability to be remarkably intolerant and violent towards other *races*, just imagine how well he'd treat another humanlike *species*.
We have no more of this "known ability" than any other creature on the face of the earth. Do you know of spiders that are tolerant of each other? Put two of the same species in the same jar and they will kill each other. Sharks will eat each other in feeding frenzy. Almost every creature
And no, that doesn't answer my question right there, why more hominoid species are not continuing to appear. They wouldn't just stop appearing just because this other mutation didn't work out.
At our church, if we don't regularly keep our gutters clean, grass begins to grow in them. We clean out the grass, killing it as a result, and we have clean gutters. But if we get lazy and wait another 6 months to clean them out, we have more grass in our gutters. The grass seeds blowing about in the wind aren't suddenly "afraid" to land in our gutters because they heard through the grapevine (so to speak) that it wasn't too safe a place to grow. They just keep coming, no matter how many times we wipe out their predecessors. So I assume it would be with mutant genes -- they should just keep on coming.
As I said in a previous post, I'm not dead-set against the possibility of evolution because it could very well be the means God chose for creation. But when I ask a few questions I've never heard addressed by the scientific community on either side of the argument, I don't see the point in you responding with such a snotty, condescending attitude.