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The great break in the organic chain between man and his nearest allies, which cannot be bridged over by any extinct or living species, has often been advanced as a grave objection to the belief that man is descended from some lower form; but this objection will not appear of much weight to those who, from general reasons, believe in the general principle of evolution. Breaks often occur in all parts of the series, some being wide, sharp and defined, others less so in various degrees; as between the orang and its nearest allies—between the Tarsius and the other Lemuridae between the elephant, and in a more striking manner between the Ornithorhynchus or Echidna, and all other mammals. But these breaks depend merely on the number of related forms which have become extinct. At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.
Charles Darwin, in The Descent of Man, 24 fevereiro de 1871
"...Em algum futuro período, não muito distante sendo medido por séculos, as raças civilizadas de homem irão quase certamente exterminar, e substituir, as raças selvagens por todo o mundo. ...O rompimento entre o homem e os seus aliados mais próximos será então mais amplo, pois irá intervir entre o homem num estado mais civilizado, como nós podemos esperar, mesmo do que o Caucasiano, e algum macaco tão inferior quanto o babuíno, em vez de como agora entre o negro ou o Australiano e o gorila".
Darwin, uma banana para você, seu macaco ariano!
