Study: Hands of humans less evolved than those of chimps

Humans like to imagine they're more evolved than their closest ancestral relatives chimpanzees, but a recent study suggests that may not be true.

Researchers have found our hands are rather primitive by comparison.

Their finding hinges on the realization that over time human hands really haven't changed much at all.

It's long been posited that as both species diverged from a common ancestor, humans' palms, fingers, and thumbs adapted in a way that made working with tools possible.

In recent decades, however, fossils have been found revealing the existence of hands capable of controlling tools predates the development of the implements themselves.

To resolve the conflict, the scientists took hand measurements from modern day humans and apes, as well as each group's ancestors.

A model of hand evolution over the millennia was constructed with the data.

It revealed that chimps showed much more extensive adaptations over time.

The researchers' results aren't without negative opinions.

One critic deemed the study questionable, as it relied entirely on a single data point and thus presents a very limited view.