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    Weisshandgibbon tierpark berlin
    Lar Gibbon (Hylobates lar)
    Scientific classification
    Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
    Class: Mammalia
    Order: Primates
    Suborder: Haplorrhini
    Parvorder: Catarrhini
    Superfamily: Hominoidea
    Gray, 1825


    Apes are the members of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. Under current classification, there are two families of hominoids:

    A few other primates have the word "ape" in their common names, but they are not regarded as true apes by most authorities.



    Historical and modern terminologyEdit

    "Ape" (Old Eng. apa; Dutch aap; Old Ger. affo; Welsh epa; Old Czech op) is a word of uncertain origin and is possibly an onomatopoetic imitation of animal chatter. The term has a history of rather imprecise usage. Its earliest meaning was a tailless (and therefore exceptionally human-like) non-human primate, but as zoological knowledge developed it became clear that taillessness occurred in a number of different and otherwise unrelated species.

    The original usage of "ape" in English may have referred to the baboon, an African monkey. Two tailless species of macaque are commonly named as apes, the Barbary Ape of North Africa (introduced into Gibraltar), Macaca sylvanus, and the Sulawesi Black Ape or Celebes Crested Macaque, M. nigra.

    Until a handful of decades ago, humans were thought to be distinctly set apart from the other apes (even from the other great apes), so much so that many people still don't think of the term "apes" to include humans at all. However, it is not considered accurate by many biologists to think of apes in a biological sense without considering humans to be included [How to reference and link to summary or text]. The terms "non-human apes" or "non-human great apes" is used with increasing frequency to show the relationship of humans to the other apes while yet talking only about the non-human species [How to reference and link to summary or text].

    A group of apes may be referred to as a troop or a shrewdness.


    The gibbon family, Hylobatidae, is composed of thirteen medium-sized species. Their major distinction are their long arms which they use to brachiate through the trees. As an evolutionary adaptation to this arboreal lifestyle, their wrists are ball and socket joints. The largest of the gibbons, the Siamang, weighs up to 23 kg (50 lb). In comparison, the smallest great ape is the Common Chimpanzee at a modest 40 to 65 kg (88 to 143 lb).

    The great ape family was previously referred to as Pongidae, and humans (and fossil hominids) were omitted from it, but there is no biological case for doing this. However, this definition is still used by many anthropologists and by lay people. However, that definition makes Pongidae paraphyletic, whereas most taxonomists nowadays encourage monophyletic groups, even though there might not be much signifigance. Chimpanzees, gorillas, humans and orangutans are all more closely related to one another than any of these four genera are to the gibbons. However, the term "hominid" is still used with the specific meaning of extinct animals more closely related to humans than the other great apes (for example, australopithecines). It is now usual to use even finer divisions, such as subfamilies and tribes to distinguish which hominoids are being discussed. Current evidence implies that humans share a common, extinct, ancestor with the chimpanzee line, from which we separated more recently than the gorilla line.

    Both great apes and lesser apes fall within Catarrhini, which also includes the Old World monkeys of Africa and Eurasia. Within this group, both families of apes can be distinguished from these monkeys by the number of cusps on their molars (apes have five—the "Y-5" molar pattern, Old World monkeys have only four in a "bilophodont" pattern). Apes have more mobile shoulder joints and arms, ribcages that are flatter front-to-back, and a shorter, less mobile spine compared to Old World monkeys. These are all anatomical adaptations to vertical hanging and swinging locomotion (brachiation) in the apes. All living members of the Hylobatidae and Hominidae are tailless, and humans can therefore accurately be referred to as bipedal apes. However, there are also primates in other families that lack tails, and at least one (the Pig-Tailed Langur) that has been known to walk significant distances bipedally.

    Although the hominoid fossil record is far from complete, and the evidence is often fragmentary, there is enough to give a good outline of the evolutionary history of humans. The time of the split between humans and living apes used to be thought to have occurred 15 to 20 million years ago, or even up to 30 or 40 million years ago. Some apes occurring within that time period, such as Ramapithecus, used to be considered as hominins, and possible ancestors of humans. Later fossil finds indicated that Ramapithecus was more closely related to the orangutan, and new biochemical evidence indicated that the last common ancestor of humans and other hominins occurred between 5 and 10 million years ago, and probably in the lower end of that range.

    Cultural aspects of non-human apesEdit

    The intelligence and humanoid appearance of apes are responsible for legends which attribute human qualities; for example, they are sometimes said to be able to speak but refuse to do so in order to avoid work.

    They are also said to be the result of a curse—a Jewish folktale claims that one of the races who built the Tower of Babel became apes as punishment, while Muslim lore says that the Jews of Elath became apes as punishment for fishing on the Sabbath. Some sects of Christian have folklore that claims that apes are a symbol of lust and were created by Satan in response to God's creation of humans. It is uncertain whether any of these references are to any specific apes, since all date from a period when the distinction between apes and monkeys was not widely understood, or not understood at all.

    Humans and the other apes share many similarities, including the ability to properly use tools and imitate others. Recent studies at Yale test some of these similarities. A professor and his/her students gave a challenge to baby humans and baby chimps. Both groups were shown a way that might solve this challenge. However, neither group knew that the solution they were shown was incorrect. Both times the baby humans tried to complete the challenge, they imitated what they were shown and failed at the attempt. The chimpanzee babies also failed their first attempt, as they too mimiced what they were shown. However, on their second attempt, they created a novel solution, and thus completed the challenge. The professor interpreted this as meaning that baby chimps learn from experience, while baby humans just imitate what they are shown. This gave scientists key information in understanding the cultural aspects of ape life and evolutionary similarities between humans and apes.

    There have also been recent breakthroughs in evidence of ape culture that go beyond what was explained above. This was further explored by scientists at the convention in St. Louis.[3]

    History of hominoid taxonomyEdit

    The history of hominoid taxonomy is somewhat confusing and complex. The names of subgroups have changed their meaning over time as new evidence from fossil discoveries, anatomy comparisons and DNA sequences, has changed understanding of the relationships between hominoids. The story of the hominoid taxonomy is one of gradual demotion of humans from a special position in the taxonomy to being one branch among many. It also illustrates the growing influence of cladistics (the science of classifying living things by strict descent) on taxonomy.

    As of 2006, there are eight extant genera of hominoids. They are the four great ape genera (Homo (humans), Pan (chimpanzees), Gorilla, and Pongo (orangutans)), and the four genera of gibbons (Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus, and Symphalangus).[1] (The genus for the hoolock gibbons was recently changed from Bunopithecus to Hoolock.[4])



    Linnaeus's inclusion of humans in the primates with monkeys and apes was troubling for people who denied a close relationship between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom. Linneaus's Lutheran Archbishop had accused him of "impiety." In a letter to Johann Georg Gmelin dated February 25, 1747, Linnaeus wrote:


    Accordingly, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in the first edition of his Manual of Natural History (1779), proposed that the primates be divided into the Quadrumana (four-handed, i.e. apes and monkeys) and Bimana (two-handed, ie. humans). This distinction was taken up by other naturalists, most notably Georges Cuvier. Some elevated the distinction to the level of order.

    However, the many affinities between humans and other primates — and especially the great apes — made it clear that the distinction made no scientific sense. Charles Darwin wrote, in The Descent of Man:


    Hominoid taxonomy 1

    Until about 1960, the hominoids were usually divided into two families: humans and their extinct relatives in Hominidae, the other apes in Pongidae.[7]

    Hominoid taxonomy 2

    The 1960s saw the application of techniques from molecular biology to primate taxonomy. Goodman used his 1963 immunological study of serum proteins to propose a division of the hominoids into three families, with the non-human great apes in Pongidae and the lesser apes (gibbons) in Hylobatidae.[8] The trichotomy of hominoid families, however, prompted scientists to ask which family speciated first from the common hominoid ancestor.

    Hominoid taxonomy 3


    Hominoid taxonomy 4

    Investigation showed orangutans to be the outgroup, but comparing humans to all three other hominid genera showed that African apes (chimpanzees and gorillas) and humans are more closely related to each other than any of them are to orangutans. This led to the placing of the African apes in the subfamily Homininae, forming another three-way split. This classification was first proposed by M. Goodman in 1974.[9]

    Hominoid taxonomy 5

    To try to resolve the hominine trichotomy, some authors proposed the division of the subfamily Homininae into the tribes Gorillini (African apes) and Hominini (humans).

    Hominoid taxonomy 6

    However, DNA comparisons provide convincing evidence that within the subfamily Homininae, gorillas are the outgroup. This suggests that chimpanzees should be in Hominini along with humans. This classification was first proposed (though one rank lower) by M. Goodman et. al. in 1990.[2] See Human evolutionary genetics for more information on the speciation of humans and great apes.

    Hominoid taxonomy 7


    Classification and evolutionEdit

    As discussed above, hominoid taxonomy has undergone several changes. Current understanding is that the apes diverged from the Old World monkeys about 25 million years ago. The lesser and greater apes split about 18 mya, and the hominid splits happen 14 mya (Pongo), 7 mya (Gorilla), and 3-5 mya (Homo & Pan)

    Legal statusEdit

    See Primate#Legal_status

    See also Edit


    1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds) Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, 178-184, Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
    2. 2.0 2.1 M. Goodman, D. A. Tagle, D. H. Fitch, W. Bailey, J. Czelusniak, B. F. Koop, P. Benson, J. L. Slightom (1990). Primate evolution at the DNA level and a classification of hominoids. Journal of Molecular Evolution 30: 260–266.
    3. Corey Binns (2006-02-28). Case Closed: Apes Got Culture.
    4. 4.0 4.1 Mootnick, A., Groves, C. P. (2005). A new generic name for the hoolock gibbon (Hylobatidae). International Journal of Primatology (26): 971-976.
    5. Letter, Carl Linnaeus to Johann Georg Gmelin. Uppsala, Sweden, 25 February 1747. Swedish Linnaean Society.
    6. Charles Darwin (1871). The Descent of Man.
    7. G. G. Simpson (1945). The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 85: 1–350.
    8. M. Goodman (1963). "Man’s place in the phylogeny of the primates as reflected in serum proteins" S. L. Washburn Classification and human evolution, 204–234, Aldine, Chicago.
    9. M. Goodman (1974). Biochemical Evidence on Hominid Phylogeny. Annual Review of Anthropology 3: 203–228.

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    de:Menschenartige es:Hominoidea fa:میمون fr:Hominoidea ko:유인원 he:הומינואידים la:Hominideae nl:Hominoideano:Menneskeaper nn:Menneskeapar ug:دورىماق pt:Hominoidea ru:Человекообразные обезьяны simple:Ape sk:Hominoidovce sv:Människoartade

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