November 14, 2018

Dr. Peters

In the broadest sense, apes and humans are both vertebrate and mammals. As mammals, we are

homeothermic which through either fur or internal mechanisms, is what allows us to maintain our body

temperature in response to the climate. The dentition of an animal gives us a lot of information, and

mammals have heterodonty. In comparison to a shark or alligator, whom have the same kind of tooth in

their mouths, mammals have 4 different kinds of teeth: incisors, canines, premolars and molars.

Additionally, mammals are also characterized by certain traits in their reproduction such as the internal

gestation of young, lactation and extended parental care, the length of which varies between species of

mammals. Due to the length of time that young spend with their mothers, emotional bonds are developed,

and immatures will be able to learn about their environment and themselves through play.

Primates are a diverse order within the mammalian class that contains over 300 species. One of

the most defining features of primates is their hand-eye coordination, bony eye sockets, grasping

hands/feet and their stereoscopic color vision. Other features include a smaller snout reducing emphasis

on smell, touch receptors on hands, fingernails, mobile appendages and hindlimb dominance. Primates

also have more elaborate cerebral cortexes, larger brains and the presence of the neocortex which is

exclusive to mammals but highly expanded in the primate order. The neocortex allows for sensory

perception, motor commands and spatial reasoning. Primates typically live long lives, mature slowly and

have complex social relationships with one another. Primates are further divided into two suborders:

strepsirhini(lemurs/lorises) and haplorhini which is characterized by dry noses.

The infraorder anthropoidea follows, which separate all monkeys, apes and humans from tarsiers.

Anthropoidea is characterized by a fused mandible, fused frontal bone, individual digit movement and

even larger brains. The parvorder catarrhine separates new world monkeys, whose nostrils point outward,

apart from old world monkeys, apes and humans whose nostrils point downward.
 Anthropoidea is further divided into hylobatidae, or the “lesser apes,” and hominoidea the

“greater apes.” The “lesser apes” consist of the four genus Hoolock, Hylobates, Nomascus and

Symphalangus. The reasons these genera are not considered to be “great apes” is due to their smaller

stature and inferior cognitive ability in comparison to hominoidea apes. For example, when shown a

mirror, hylobatidae apes would not recognize their reflection whereas a hominoidea ape would. Despite

these differences, the brachiated locomotive ability, lack of external tail and bipedalism traits make

“lesser apes” still evolutionary close to humans.

Apes and humans fall into the superfamily hominoidea who are characterized by wider torsos,

absence of tails, presence of the Y-5 molar and the wide range of motion in the wrists, elbows, forearms

etc. The rotator shoulder joint allows for 360-degree movement of the arm and forearms are able to rotate

180 degrees due to the radius and ulna are connected.

Beyond the just the obvious physical traits of apes, it is the behavior they display that really

illustrates their obvious connection to humans. In Pan Troglodytes for example, the curiosity and

problem-solving skills they employ in developing and using tools to hunt is extraordinarily similar to

human capability. But perhaps the most impressive behaviors are seen in Pan Paniscus, or the Bonobo

chimpanzee. Gottfried Hohman expressed that the behavior of coalition of unrelated females is not only

unprecedented, but that it doesn’t make sense from an evolutionary perspective. In addition to this, males

are submissive to females even though they are larger in size. This behavior came about as females

wanted to combat male aggression, and a group of females always beats out one aggressive male. This

behavior has developed such that Bonobos are overall peaceful and are able to show empathy for others.

While humans are clearly capable of much more than what chimpanzees are, these shared traits are what

has us so close in our taxonomic classification.