Chimpanzee 1b

Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. Chimpanzees split from the human branch of the family... more

by Walter Herrit

Title

Chimpanzee 1b

Artist

Walter Herrit

Medium

Photograph - Photograph-digital Art

Description

Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. Chimpanzees split from the human branch of the family about four to six million years ago. Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to humans, being members of the Hominini tribe (along with extinct species of Hominina subtribe). Chimpanzees are the only known members of the Panina subtribe. The two Pan species split only about one million years ago.

Evolutionary relationship
The genus Pan is part of the subfamily Homininae, to which humans also belong. These two species are the closest living evolutionary relatives to humans, sharing a common ancestor with humans about four to six million years ago. Research by Mary-Claire King in 1973 found 99% identical DNA between human beings and chimpanzees, although research since has modified that finding to about 94% commonality, with some of the difference occurring in noncoding DNA. P. troglodytes and P. paniscus have been proposed to belong with H. sapiens in the genus Homo, rather than in Pan; e.g., by J. Diamond in his book, wherein he refers to man as The Third Chimpanzee. Among the arguments in favor of this reclassification is that other species have been reclassified to belong to the same genus because of less genetic similarity than that between humans and chimpanzees.

Uploaded

November 7th, 2013