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On its face , a equivalence of monkeys and apes seems aboveboard : Modernprimateshave defining physical features and behavior that clearly sort them in different categories .
begin with living animals , those differences are sluttish to pick out . Most monkeys have tail ; some have prehensile tails , which means they can grasp and hold thing . They ’re quadruped , meaning they use all four limbs to get around . They have four arm that are about the same length , as well as a pliable spine .
At first glance, monkeys like this baboon (left) may seem similar to apes like this gorilla (right), but the two groups are very different, experts explain.
Monkeys can be subdivided intoOld World and New Worldclassifications base on where they live . Old World monkeys subsist in Africa and Asia , while New World scalawag live in Central and South America , according to the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance . Old World rascal are also known as African - Eurasiatic and New World monkeys as Neotropical .
Apes , on the other hand , do n’t have tailcoat . Their " orthograde " consistence plan make them capable of remain firm upright and fall in them disproportionate limbs , with long arm and short legs . Inversely , humanity — which are also imitator — have prospicient legs and shorter subdivision . ape also have alarger brain relative to their body sizethan rapscallion do , which has critical implications for intelligence agency .
" There is a substantial difference in intelligence between scallywag and apes,“Becky Malinsky , curator of primates at the Smithsonian ’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute , told Live Science in an e-mail . " While monkeys are subject of complex thinking , they mostly have a lower cognitive capacity than apes . "
At first glance, monkeys like this baboon (left) may seem similar to apes like this gorilla (right), but the two groups are very different, experts explain.
have-to doe with : What did the last common ascendent between humans and apes bet like ?
ape can be subdivide into the outstanding and lesser anthropoid ground on their sizing . peachy apes include chimpanzees ( Pan hermit ) , eastern gorillas ( Gorilla beringei ) , western gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla ) and bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) — all of which live in Africa — and orangutans ( Pongo ) , which live in Southeast Asia . Lesser ape comprise gibbon and siamangs , which live in Southeast Asia . Although humans are also great apes , this clause focuses on non - human primates .
Monkey versus ape genetics
But when you weigh their evolutionary story , the conflict between anthropoid and monkey is murkier .
" From the surface , it seems like a very gentle thing to discuss,“Sergio Almécija , a senior research scientist of biological anthropology at the American Museum of Natural account in New York City , told Live Science . " But that trivial impression , I think , [ is ] based on living animals only . "
According to a limited review publish in the journalSciencein 2021 , of which Almécija is the lead source , humans depart from apes — specifically chimpanzees — between 9.3 million and 6.5 million years ago .
— Why do chimpanzees throw poop ?
— Could monkeys really type the complete works of Shakespeare ?
— Why have n’t all prelate evolved into human ?
But imitator and monkeys diverged from their last common ancestor even longer ago : between 23 million and 34 million years ago , according to a 2013 paper bring out in the journalNature . The authors analyzed the oldest love fossil from Old World ( African - Eurasian ) monkey and apes , get in the Rukwa Rift Basin in southwesterly Tanzania : a fond jawbone with three teeth from an ape , and a single molar from a scalawag . The team class these novel fogey primates , send for the apeRukwapithecus fleagleiand the monkeyNsungwepithecus gunnelli . Geological dating of the sway layer in which these fossils were launch indicate they ’re about 25.2 million year old .
Still , there ’s much more to take about how order Primates develop over millions of years . " The fossil record can lead to varying rendering and public debate , " Malinsky write .
" It ’s really much more complex than we think , " Almécija said . " We do n’t have as much selective information as we remember we do to answer some of these questions . "
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