Many opinions
However, there is still a great deal of
disagreement, even in the scientific community, about whether humans are considered apes. Many, as previously mentioned, consider this
whole Hominoid group as apes. Other scientists still use the historical definition, to describe non-human primates.
Indeed, this is the most common in everyday usage for laypeople too. The Merriam-Webster dictionary
defines an ape as “any of various large tailless semi-erect primates of Africa and southeastern Asia (such as the chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, or gibbon)”.
Some researchers argue that
we are not apes but ex-apes because we are fundamentally different from other apes. These differences are due to the way we communicate and other things that are not visible just by looking at DNA. In this case, the word “ape” should mean something different than
Hominoid.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a straightforward answer to the question of whether humans are apes or not. The most common consensus is that non-human primates are considered apes, but many biologists are increasingly designating humans as part of this simian clade.
Even though you look different, you share 99% of the same genes with most other apes.
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