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==Cultural Bimana, and therefore on an equality with the orders of the Quadrumana, Carnivora, etc. Recently many of our best naturalists have recurred to the view first propounded by

Changes in taxonomy over time

Until about 1960, the hominoids were usually divided into two families: humans and their extinct relatives in Hominidae, the other apes in Pongidae.
The 1960s saw the application of techniques from molecular biology to primate taxonomy. Goodman used his 1964 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. The trichotomy of hominoid families, however, prompted scientists to ask which family speciated first from the common hominoid ancestor.
Within the superfamily Hominoidea, gibbons are the outgroup: this means that the rest of the hominoids are more closely related to each other than any of them are to gibbons. This led to the placing of the other great apes into the family Hominidae along with humans, by demoting the Pongidae to a subfamily; the Hominidae family now contained the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae. Again, the three-way split in Ponginae led scientists to ask which of the three genera is least related to the others.
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.
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).
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. See Human evolutionary genetics for more information on the speciation of humans and great apes.
Later DNA comparisons split the gibbon genus Hylobates into four genera: Hylobates, Hoolock, Nomascus, and Symphalangus.

Classification and evolution

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 happened 14 mya (Pongo), 7 mya (Gorilla), and 3-5 mya (Homo & Pan).

Listed are the families and genera of apes; also listed are the extant species.

Behaviour and cognition

Although there had been earlier studies, the scientific investigation of behaviour and cognition in non-human apes expanded enormously during the latter half of the twentieth century. Major studies of behaviour in the field were completed on the three better-known great apes, for example by Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas (field work on gibbons and the Bonobo is still relatively underdeveloped). These studies have shown that in their natural environments, the different apes show sharply varying social structure: gibbons are monogamous, territorial pair-bonders, orangutans are solitary, gorillas live in small troops dominated by a single adult male, while chimpanzees live in larger troops with Bonobos exhibiting promiscuous sexual behaviour. Their diets also vary; gorillas are foliovores while the others are all primarily frugivores, although the Common Chimpanzee does some hunting for meat. Foraging behaviour is correspondingly variable.

All the apes are generally thought of as highly intelligent, and scientific study has broadly confirmed that they perform outstandingly well on a wide range of cognitive tests - though again there is relatively little data on gibbon cognition. The early studies by Wolfgang Köhler demonstrated exceptional problem-solving abilities in chimpanzees, which Köhler attributed to insight. The use of tools has been repeatedly demonstrated; more recently, the manufacture of tools has been documented, both in the wild and in laboratory tests. Imitation is much more easily demonstrated in great apes than in other primate species. Almost all the studies in animal language acquisition have been completed with great apes, and though there is continuing dispute as to whether they demonstrate real language abilities, there is no doubt that they involve significant feats of learning. Chimpanzees in different parts of Africa have developed tools that are used in food acquisition, demonstrating a form of animal culture.

Legal status

See Primate#Legal status

The United States classifies only humans as persons, all other are not considered persons.

See also

References

  1. G. G. Simpson (1945). "The principles of classification and a classification of mammals". Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 85: 1–350.
  2. M. Goodman (1964). "Man's place in the phylogeny of the primates as reflected in serum proteins". In S. L. Washburn (ed.). Classification and human evolution. Aldine, Chicago. pp. 204–234.
  3. M. Goodman (1974). "Biochemical Evidence on Hominid Phylogeny". Annual Review of Anthropology. 3: 203–228.
  4. Cite error: The named reference Goodman2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference MSW3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. Cite error: The named reference Mootnick was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. William McGrew (1992). Chimpanzee material culture: implications for human evolution.

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