What kind of primate are humans

Research on learning the entire genome of common chimpanzees was completed in The genes that differ mostly control speech, smelling, hearing, digesting proteins, and susceptibility to certain diseases.

These dissimilarities are to be expected given that we have been on essentially separate evolutionary tracks for million years. During that time , we have been subject to somewhat different natural selection pressures. These differences led to bipedalism for our ancestors along with a much larger brain and , ultimately, speech.

The modern human brain is 3 times larger in volume than those of the great apes. More importantly, the human brain to body size ratio is significantly larger, and it has a much bigger cerebral cortex with a higher concentration of neurons. Evolving a larger brain comes at a steep energy cost. Recent research has suggested that our intelligence advantage may be due to evolutionary changes in the HAR1F regulator gene beginning about 6 million years ago in our pre-human ancestors but not in those of chimpanzees or other apes.

This gene is involved in the production of brain tissue between the 7th and 19th week after conception. It is not surprising that there are some striking differences between the great apes and humans in mental abilities. People have much more complex forms of verbal communication than any other primate species. We are the only animal to create and use symbols as a means of communication. We also have more varied and complex social organizations.

The most distinctive feature of humans is our mental ability to create new ideas and complex technologies. This has proven invaluable in the competition for survival. However, the great apes are also surprisingly intelligent, having mental levels equivalent to a year old human child. This is sufficient to allow them to learn and use the sign language of deaf humans in at least a rudimentary way, but they do not have the capability of producing human speech and language.

This is likely due to the fact that they have a different form of another key regulator gene known as FOXP2. There is one additional curious difference between humans and all other primates that is worth noting. O lder human females go through menopause and become sterile , often decades before dying of old age. Female chimpanzees, gorillas, and other non-human primates usually remain capable of conception and giving birth even when they are very old. In the wild, they live only a relatively short amount of time following menopause, if they go through it at all.

One explanation for this difference in humans is that years of life following menopause has proven to have natural selection value for our species. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.

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The strepsirrhines are, in many ways, the most primitive primates. This group contains about 90 species, most of which are nocturnal active at night. They include lemurs, lorises, bushbabies and the Aye-aye. Most strepsirrhines live in forests in Madagascar but some live in Africa or southern Asia. The more advanced primates are placed together into a group known as the haplorrhines. The primates included in this group are the:. The tiny tarsiers share many features with monkeys and apes but also retain some primitive strepsirrhine-like features.

There are more than 10 species and all are nocturnal active at night. Tarsiers live in forests on parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Tarsiers are now considered to be close relatives of monkeys and apes because, like monkeys and apes, they have following features which evolved more recently:. Male Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, Skull cast. Ape diversity The first apes evolved about 25 million years ago and by 20 million years ago were a very diverse group. These are the: Lesser Apes, containing the gibbons Great Apes, containing the orang-utans, gorillas, chimpanzees and humans Ape features Apes including humans possess the same general features that all primates share but they differ from other primates in a number of distinctive ways.

The gibbons have the following features: body size which is similar in males and females bodies adapted for living in trees which they rarely leave. These adaptations include very long arms with a shoulder structure that enables them to rapidly swing from one branch to the next and long curved finger and toe bones to powerfully grip tree branches hardened pads of skin callosites on their buttocks for prolonged sitting a diet of fruit or leaves long, pointed canine teeth and long jaws a social lifestyle consisting of small family groups consisting of an adult male-female pair and their juvenile offspring The Great Apes The Great Apes are named for their large bodies.

Orang-utans There are two living species of orang-utan — the Bornean Orang-utan, Pongo pygmaeus , and the Sumatran Orang-utan, Pongo abelii. Orang-utans have the following features: considerable sexual dimorphism in which the males are about twice as big as the females bodies adapted for living in trees which they rarely leave and also for quadrupedal four-legged movement on the ground. These adaptations include very long arms with a shoulder structure that enables them to move slowly from branch to branch especially in young, lighter bodied orang-utans and long curved finger and toe bones to powerfully grip tree branches a diet of fruit supplemented by insects long, pointed canine teeth and long jaws occasional use of tools, such as twigs and sticks a solitary lifestyle except when breeding or when mothers have offspring Gorillas There are two living species of gorilla — the Western Gorilla, Gorilla gorilla , and the Eastern Gorilla, Gorilla beringei.

Their features include: considerable sexual dimorphism in which the males are about twice as big as the females bodies adapted for climbing trees when young and also for quadrupedal four-legged movement on the ground. Their features include: moderate sexual dimorphism in which males are slightly larger than females although this is reduced in Bonobos bodies adapted for climbing trees and also for quadrupedal four-legged movement on the ground.

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