Man is different from primates. Differences between humans and monkeys. Greater primates or monkeys

Man has his own characteristics, which qualitatively distinguish him from animals, including our closest relatives - great apes.

• 1. Upright posture, due to which the spine straightens, the cranium can develop in all directions, which creates the possibility of a significant increase in brain volume; hands are freed, which allows the manufacture and use of tools.
• 2. The human hand differs from the forelimb of primates in greater mobility, better opposition of the thumb; strengthening of the palmar region.
• 3. There is a difference in the structure of the brain, which consists mainly in a lower packing density of neurons in the cortex, in a greater number of dendrites, in a greater number of cortical neurons with short axons, and in a greater number (per unit volume of the cortex) of neuroglial cells. The ratio of the absolute number of neurons in the human cortex and monkey brain cortex is 1.4:1.0.
• 4. Although the structure of genes, as already mentioned, is the same for us and for monkeys, there is a difference in a characteristic called “gene expression”, in other words, this is their activity, the speed with which new proteins are born through them . It turned out that in the human brain this expression is 5 times higher than in monkeys.

There is an opinion that at some ancient stage in the evolution of primates, the human ancestor received an unexpected advantage in the form of “fast” brain genes. In other words, his brain began to evolve 5 times faster. Why none of the other animals received such a gift, one can only guess, since it is impossible to answer this question. Why we are so different is already more or less clear, but it is not at all clear why such a difference has arisen.

5. Only a person has speech and is able to transmit information that is not related to the present moment. There is an area in the human brain that controls the conceptual side of speech. And man is the only primate who, thanks to the low position of the larynx, is capable of articulate speech.

Meanwhile, judging by modern data, the closest relatives of man - chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas - understand symbols, operate on them, combine signs, creating new meanings. The pygmy chimpanzees are especially good at this. For example, a bonobo named Kenzi learned to communicate using symbols, perceives words by ear without special training, quickly establishes a connection between a drawn symbol and its verbal expression, and understands the meaning of simple sentences. Perhaps, in natural conditions, bonobos are able to transmit information using symbols. A group of American and Japanese primatologists recently discovered that members of the same community, breaking into groups, leave real messages to each other in the form of symbols: sticks stuck in the ground, branches placed on the path, oriented in the right direction of plant leaves. Thanks to such marks, relatives can determine the direction of movement of the group in front. These marks are more common at forks or in places where it is impossible to leave footprints on the ground - when crossing a stream, in a wetland, etc. That's what people would do in similar situations.

• 6. There are significant differences between the psyche of animals and the human psyche:
  • * a person operates with images and concepts, the content of which is free from the limitations of space and time and can refer to imaginary events that never and nowhere exist, i.e. his thinking is abstract-logical in contrast to the concrete-figurative thinking of animals;
  • * a person has a cognitive ability based on penetration into the structure of the world and building models of the world;
  • * a person can both comply with the existing moral norms of behavior, and destroy and self-destruct;
  • * only a person has self-consciousness and self-reflection, manifested in the ability to contemplate one's own existence and be aware of death.
• 7. Man, unlike animals, does not inherit forms of activity along with the structural and anatomical organization of the body. The forms of activity are transmitted to him indirectly, through the forms of objects created by human labor. In addition, as we have already said, a person knows how to make tools and is capable of long-term concentration of attention, which is necessary for labor activity.

Introduction

In 1739, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in his Systema Naturae classified man - Homo sapiens - as one of the primates. In this system, primates are an order within the mammal class. Linnaeus divided this order into two suborders: the semi-monkeys (they include lemurs and tarsiers) and the higher primates. The latter include marmosets, gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans. Primates share many specific features that distinguish them from other mammals.
It is generally accepted that Man, as a species, separated from the animal world within the framework of geological time quite recently - approximately 1.8-2 million years ago at the beginning of the Quaternary period. This is evidenced by the finds of bones in the Olduvai Gorge in western Africa.
Charles Darwin argued that the ancestral species of Man was one of the ancient species of great apes that lived in trees and most of all resembled modern chimpanzees.
F. Engels formulated the thesis that the ancient anthropoid ape turned into a Homo sapiens due to labor – “labor created Man”.

Similarities between humans and monkeys

The relationship between man and animals is especially convincing when comparing their embryonic development. In its early stages, the human embryo is difficult to distinguish from the embryos of other vertebrates. At the age of 1.5 - 3 months, it has gill slits, and the spine ends in a tail. For a very long time, the similarity of human embryos and monkeys remains. Specific (species) human features appear only at the latest stages of development. Rudiments and atavisms serve as important evidence of the kinship of man with animals. There are about 90 rudiments in the human body: coccygeal bone (remainder of a reduced tail); crease in the corner of the eye (remnant of the nictitating membrane); thin hair on the body (the rest of the wool); a process of the caecum - an appendix, etc. Atavisms (unusually highly developed rudiments) include an external tail, with which very rarely, but people are born; abundant hair on the face and body; polynipple, strongly developed fangs, etc.

A striking similarity of the chromosomal apparatus was found. The diploid number of chromosomes (2n) in all great apes is 48, in humans - 46. The difference in chromosome numbers is due to the fact that one human chromosome is formed by the fusion of two chromosomes homologous to those of chimpanzees. A comparison of human and chimpanzee proteins showed that in 44 proteins, the amino acid sequences differ by only 1%. Many human and chimpanzee proteins, such as growth hormone, are interchangeable.
Human and chimpanzee DNA contain at least 90% of similar genes.

Differences between humans and monkeys

True upright posture and related structural features of the body;
- S-shaped spine with distinct cervical and lumbar curves;
- low extended pelvis;
- flattened in the anteroposterior direction of the chest;
- elongated compared to the arms of the legs;
- arched foot with a massive and adducted thumb;
- many features of the muscles and the location of the internal organs;
- the brush is capable of performing a wide variety of high-precision movements;
- the skull is higher and rounded, does not have continuous brow ridges;
- the brain part of the skull to a large extent predominates over the front (high forehead, weak jaws);
- small fangs;
- the chin protrusion is distinctly expressed;
- the human brain is approximately 2.5 times larger than the brain of great apes in terms of volume and 3-4 times in mass;
- a person has a highly developed cerebral cortex, in which the most important centers of the psyche and speech are located;
- only a person has articulate speech, in this regard, it is characterized by the development of the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes of the brain;
- the presence of a special head muscle in the larynx.

Walking on two legs

Walking upright is the most important feature of a person. The rest of the primates, with a few exceptions, live primarily in trees and are quadrupedal or, as is sometimes said, "four-armed."
Some marmosets (baboons) have adapted to a terrestrial existence, but they move on all fours like the vast majority of mammalian species.
Great apes (gorillas) mostly live on the ground, walking in a partially erect position, but often leaning on the back of their hands.
The vertical position of the human body is associated with many secondary adaptive changes: the arms are shorter relative to the legs, the wide flat foot and short toes, the peculiarity of the sacroiliac joint, the S-shaped shock-absorbing curve of the spine when walking, the special shock-absorbing connection of the head with the spinal column.

brain enlargement

The enlarged brain puts Man in a special position in relation to other primates. Compared to the average brain size of a chimpanzee, the modern human brain is three times larger. Homo habilis, the first of the hominids, had twice the size of a chimpanzee. A Human has much more nerve cells and their arrangement has changed. Unfortunately, skull fossils do not provide sufficient comparative material to evaluate many of these structural changes. It is likely that there is an indirect relationship between the increase in the brain and its development and upright posture.

The structure of the teeth

The transformations that have taken place in the structure of the teeth are usually associated with changes in the way of nutrition of the most ancient person. These include: a decrease in the volume and length of the fangs; closure of the diastema, i.e. a gap that includes protruding fangs in primates; changes in the shape, inclination and chewing surface of different teeth; the development of a parabolic dental arch, in which the anterior is rounded and the lateral ones expand outward, in contrast to the U-shaped dental arch of monkeys.
In the course of hominin evolution, brain enlargement, changes in cranial joints, and transformation of teeth were accompanied by significant changes in the structure of various elements of the skull and face and their proportions.

Differences at the biomolecular level

The use of molecular biological methods has made it possible to take a new approach to determining both the time of the appearance of hominids and their kinship with other families of primates. Methods used include: immunoassay, ie. comparison of the immune response of different species of primates to the introduction of the same protein (albumin) - the more similar the reaction, the closer the relationship; DNA hybridization, which makes it possible to assess the degree of relationship by the degree of correspondence of paired bases in double strands of DNA taken from different species;
electrophoretic analysis, in which the degree of similarity of proteins of different animal species and, consequently, the proximity of these species is estimated by the mobility of the isolated proteins in an electric field;
protein sequencing, namely the comparison of the amino acid sequences of a protein in different animal species, which makes it possible to determine the number of changes in the coding DNA responsible for the identified differences in the structure of this protein. These methods have shown a very close relationship of species such as gorilla, chimpanzee and man. For example, in one study on protein sequencing, it was found that differences in the structure of chimpanzee and human DNA are only 1%.

The traditional explanation of anthropogenesis

The common ancestors of great apes and humans - herd narrow-nosed monkeys - lived on trees in tropical forests. Their transition to a terrestrial way of life, caused by a cooling of the climate and the displacement of forests by steppes, led to upright walking. The straightened position of the body and the transfer of the center of gravity caused the restructuring of the skeleton and the formation of an arched spinal column in an S-shape, which gave it flexibility and the ability to cushion. An arched springy foot was formed, which was also a method of depreciation during upright walking. The pelvis expanded, which ensured greater stability of the body when walking upright (reducing the center of gravity). The chest has become wider and shorter. The jaw apparatus became lighter from the use of food processed on fire. The forelimbs were freed from the need to support the body, their movements became freer and more varied, their functions became more complicated.

The transition from the use of objects to the manufacture of tools is the boundary between ape and man. The evolution of the hand went through the natural selection of mutations that are useful for work. The first tools were tools for hunting and fishing. Along with vegetable, more high-calorie meat food has become more widely used. Food cooked on fire reduced the load on the chewing and digestive apparatus, and therefore lost its significance and gradually disappeared in the process of selection of the parietal crest, to which the chewing muscles are attached in monkeys. The intestines became shorter.

The herd way of life, with the development of labor activity and the need to exchange signals, led to the development of articulate speech. Slow selection of mutations transformed the undeveloped larynx and mouthparts of monkeys into human speech organs. The origin of the language was the social labor process. Labor, and then articulate speech, are the factors that controlled the genetically determined evolution of the human brain and sense organs. Concrete ideas about the surrounding objects and phenomena were generalized into abstract concepts, mental and speech abilities developed. Higher nervous activity was formed, and articulate speech developed.
The transition to upright walking, a herd lifestyle, a high level of development of the brain and psyche, the use of objects as tools for hunting and protection - these are the prerequisites for humanization, on the basis of which labor activity, speech and thinking developed and improved.

Australopithecus afarensis - probably evolved from some late Dryopithecus about 4 million years ago. Fossil remains of the Afar Australopithecus have been found in Omo (Ethiopia) and in Laetoli (Tanzania). This creature looked like a small but upright chimpanzee weighing 30 kg. Their brains were slightly larger than those of chimpanzees. The face was similar to that of great apes: with a low forehead, supraorbital ridge, flat nose, cut off chin, but protruding jaws with massive molars. The front teeth were gapped, apparently because they were used as tools for grasping.

Australopithecus africanus settled on Earth about 3 million years ago and ceased to exist about a million years ago. He probably descended from Australopithecus afarensis, and some authors have suggested that he was the ancestor of the chimpanzee. Height 1 - 1.3 m. Weight 20-40 kg. The lower part of the face protruded forward, but not as much as in the great apes. Some skulls show traces of an occipital crest to which strong neck muscles were attached. The brain was no larger than that of a gorilla, but the casts show that the structure of the brain was somewhat different from that of great apes. According to the comparative ratio of the size of the brain and body, Africanus occupies an intermediate position between modern great apes and ancient people. The structure of the teeth and jaws suggests that this ape-man chewed plant food, but possibly also gnawed the meat of animals killed by predators. Experts dispute its ability to make tools. The oldest Africanus find is a 5.5 million-year-old jaw fragment from Lotegam in Kenya, while the youngest specimen is 700,000 years old. Finds suggest that Africanus also lived in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.

Australopithecus gobustus (Mighty Australopithecus) had a height of 1.5-1.7 m and a weight of about 50 kg. It was larger and better developed physically than the African Australopithecus. As we have said, some authors believe that both of these "southern monkeys" are respectively male and female of the same species, but most experts do not support this assumption. Compared to the Africanus, he had a larger and flatter skull, containing a larger brain - about 550 cubic meters. cm, and a wider face. Powerful muscles were attached to the high cranial crest, which set in motion massive jaws. The front teeth were the same as those of the Africanus, while the molars were larger. At the same time, the molars in most specimens known to us are usually heavily worn, despite the fact that they were covered with a thick layer of durable enamel. This may indicate that the animals ate solid, tough food, in particular cereal grains.
Apparently, the mighty Australopithecus appeared about 2.5 million years ago. All the remains of representatives of this species were found in South Africa, in caves, where they were probably dragged by predatory animals. This species became extinct about 1.5 million years ago. Boyce's Australopithecus may have originated from him. The structure of the skull of the mighty Australopithecus suggests that he was the ancestor of the gorilla.

Australopithecus boisei had a height of 1.6-1.78 m and a weight of 60-80 kg., Small incisors designed for biting off and huge molars capable of grinding food. The time of its existence is from 2.5 to 1 million years ago.
Their brain was the same size as that of the mighty Australopithecus, that is, about three times smaller than our brain. These creatures walked straight. With their powerful physique, they resembled a gorilla. Like gorillas, males appear to be significantly larger than females. Like the gorilla, Boyce's Australopithecus had a large skull with supraorbital ridges and a central bony ridge that served to attach powerful jaw muscles. But compared to the gorilla, the crest of Australopithecus Boyce was smaller and more advanced, the face was flatter, and the fangs were less developed. Because of the huge molars and premolars, this animal was nicknamed the "nutcracker". But these teeth could not exert much pressure on food and were adapted for chewing not very hard material, such as leaves. Since broken pebbles were found along with the bones of Australopithecus Boyce, which are 1.8 million years old, it can be assumed that these creatures could use the stone for practical purposes. However, it is possible that representatives of this species of monkeys fell victim to their contemporary - a man who succeeded in the use of stone tools.

A little criticism of the classical ideas about the origin of Man

If man's ancestors were hunters and ate meat, then why are his jaws and teeth weak for raw meat, and his intestines relative to the body are almost twice as long as those of carnivores? The jaws were already significantly reduced among the prezinjantrops, although they did not use fire and could not soften food on it. What did human ancestors eat?

In case of danger, birds soar into the air, ungulates run away, monkeys take refuge on trees or rocks. How did the animal ancestors of people, with the slowness of movement and the absence of tools, except miserable sticks and stones, escape from predators?

M.F. Nesturkh and B.F. Porshnev frankly also refer to the unresolved problems of anthropogenesis as the mysterious reasons for the loss of hair by people. After all, even in the tropics it is cold at night and all monkeys keep their hair. Why did our ancestors lose it?

Why did a head of hair remain on the head of a person, while on most of the body they were reduced?

Why does a person's chin and nose protrude forward with nostrils turned down for some reason?

Incredible for evolution is the speed (as is usually believed, in 4-5 millennia) of the transformation of Pithecanthropus into modern man (Homo sapiens). Biologically, this is inexplicable.

A number of anthropologists believe that our distant ancestors were Australopithecus, who lived on the planet 1.5-3 million years ago, but Australopithecus were terrestrial monkeys, and like modern chimpanzees lived in the savannas. They could not be the ancestors of Man, since they lived at the same time with him. There is evidence that Australopithecus, who lived in West Africa 2 million years ago, were objects of hunting for ancient people.

The fact that the monkey is a close relative of man has been known for a long time, the chimpanzee among all the monkeys is our closest relative. In the study of DNA, the origin of man from ape-like ancestors is fully confirmed. Genetic differences at the DNA level between humans average 1 nucleotide in 1000 (i.e. 0.1%), between humans and chimpanzees - 1 nucleotide in 100 (i.e. 1%).

In terms of genome size, humans and higher primates do not differ from each other, but differ in the number of chromosomes - humans have one pair less. As was said in previous lectures, a person has 23 pairs of chromosomes, i.e. 46 total. Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes, one pair more. In the process of evolution in human ancestors, two different chromosomes of primates combined into one. Similar changes in the number of chromosomes occur in the evolution of other species. They may be important for the genetic isolation of a group during speciation, since in most cases individuals with different numbers of chromosomes do not produce offspring.

The time of divergence (divergence) of species, or in other words, the time of existence of the last common ancestor for two species, can be determined in several ways. The first is this: they date the bone remains and determine to whom these remains could belong, when the common ancestor of certain species could live. But there are not so many bone remains of the alleged human ancestors that it would be possible to restore and date with certainty the complete sequence of forms in the process of anthropogenesis. Now they use a different way of dating the time of the divergence of man and other primates. To do this, the number of mutations accumulated in the same genes in each of the branches during their separate evolution is counted. The rate of accumulation of these mutations is more or less known. The rate of accumulation of mutations is determined by the number of differences in the DNA of those species for which paleontological dating of the divergence of species from bone remains is known. According to various estimates, the time of divergence between humans and chimpanzees varies from 5.4 to 7 million years ago.

You already know that the human genome has been completely read (sequenced). Last year it was reported that the chimpanzee genome had also been read. By comparing the genomes of humans and chimpanzees, scientists are trying to identify those genes that “make us human.” This would be easy to do if only human genes evolved after the branching, but this is not the case, chimpanzees also evolved, mutations also accumulated in their genes. Therefore, in order to understand in which branch the mutation occurred - in humans or in chimpanzees - one also has to compare them with the DNA of other species, gorillas, orangutans, mice. That is, what only a chimpanzee has and, for example, an orangutan does not have, these are purely “chimpanzee” nucleotide substitutions. Thus, by comparing the nucleotide sequences of different primate species, we can isolate those mutations that occurred only in the line of our ancestors. We now know about a dozen genes that "make us human."

Differences between humans and other animals in terms of olfactory receptor genes have been found. In humans, many olfactory receptor genes are inactivated. The DNA fragment itself is present, but mutations appear in it that inactivate this gene: either it is not transcribed, or it is transcribed, but a non-functional product is formed from it. As soon as the selection to maintain the functionality of the gene stops, mutations begin to accumulate in it, knocking down the reading frame, inserting stop codons, etc. That is, mutations appear in all genes, and the mutation rate is approximately constant. It is possible to keep the gene functioning only due to the fact that mutations that violate important functions are rejected by selection. Such genes inactivated by mutations, which can be recognized by the nucleotide sequence, but have accumulated mutations that make it inactive, are called pseudogenes. In total, the mammalian genome contains about 1000 sequences corresponding to the olfactory receptor genes. Of these, 20% are pseudogenes in mice, a third (28-26%) are inactivated in chimpanzees and macaques, and more than half (54%) in humans are pseudogenes.

Pseudogenes have also been found in humans among the genes that encode the keratin family of proteins that make up hair. Since we have less hair than chimpanzees, it is clear that some of these genes could be inactivated.

When they talk about the difference between a person and a monkey, they first of all distinguish the development of mental abilities and the ability to speak. Found a gene associated with the ability to speak. This gene was identified by studying a family with a hereditary speech disorder: an inability to learn to build phrases in accordance with the rules of grammar, combined with a mild degree of mental retardation. The slide shows the genealogy of this family: circles are women, squares are men, filled figures are sick family members. The mutation associated with the disease is in the gene FOXP2(forkhead box P2). In humans, it is quite difficult to study the functions of a gene; it is easier to do this in mice. They use the so-called knockout technique. The gene is targeted inactivated, if you know the specific nucleotide sequence, then this is possible, after that this gene does not work in the mouse. In mice that have been knocked out FOXP2, the formation of one of the areas of the brain in the embryonic period was disturbed. Apparently, in humans, this zone is associated with the development of speech. This gene encodes a transcription factor. Recall that at the embryonic stage of development, transcription factors turn on a group of genes at certain stages that control the transformation of cells into what they should turn into.

To see how this gene evolved, it was sequenced in different species: mice, macaques, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees, after which these nucleotide sequences were compared with the human one.

It turned out that this gene is very conservative. Among all primates, only the orangutan had one amino acid substitution, and one substitution in the mouse. On the slide, each line shows two numbers, the first shows the number of amino acid substitutions, the second - the number of so-called silent (synonymous) nucleotide substitutions, most often these are substitutions in the third position of the codon that does not affect the encoded amino acid. It can be seen that silent substitutions accumulate in all lines, that is, mutations in a given locus are not prohibited if they do not lead to amino acid substitutions. This does not mean that mutations in the protein-coding part did not appear, they most likely appeared, but were eliminated by selection, so we cannot fix them. The amino acid sequence of the protein is shown schematically in the lower part of the figure, the places where two human amino acid substitutions occurred, which apparently affected the functional features of the protein, are marked. FOXP2.

If the protein evolves at a constant rate (the number of nucleotide substitutions per unit of time is constant), then the number of substitutions in the branches will be proportional to the time during which the substitutions accumulated. The time of separation of the lineage of rodents (mice) and primates is assumed to be 90 million years, the time of separation of humans and chimpanzees is 5.5 million years. Then the number of substitutions m accumulated in total in the line of mice and in the line of primates between the point of separation with the mouse and the point of separation between man and chimpanzee (see figure), compared with the number of substitutions h in the line of man, should be 31.7 times greater. If more substitutions have accumulated in a human line than expected at a constant rate of gene evolution, then one speaks of an acceleration of evolution. How many times the evolution is accelerated is calculated by a simple formula:

A. I.=( h/5.5) / [ m/(2 x 90 - 5.5)]= 31.7 h/ m

Where is A.I. (Acceleration Index) – acceleration index.

Now we need to evaluate whether the deviation of the number of substitutions in the person's line from is within the random range, or the deviation is significantly higher than expected. The probability that 2 amino acid substitutions will appear in the human lineage in 5.5 million years, while the probability of the appearance of substitutions is estimated for the mouse lineage as 1/(90+84.6)=1/174.6. We use the binomial distribution B(h + m, Th/(Th+Tm)), where h is the number of substitutions in the human line, m is the number of substitutions in the mouse line: Th=5.5, Tm=174.5.

Although chimpanzees are our closest relatives, they were still unknown in most of the world until Charles Darwin wrote about them in 1859 and they became popular. It is only recently that a lot of hitherto unknown information has been discovered that allows us to take a fresh look at the misconceptions and exaggerations that are used in abundance in works of fiction. However, our similarities and differences are not what many imagine them to be. By studying our closest relatives, we can better understand ourselves.

1. Number of species

Left - pan troglodytes, right - pan paniscus

Chimpanzees are often incorrectly referred to as monkeys, but they really only belong to the big family of monkeys, just like us. Other prominent representatives of primates are orangutans and gorillas. There is only one species of human at present, and that is Homo sapiens. In the past, many scientists have tried to prove that there are several kinds of humans, and are often quick to add that they belonged to the "superior" species. However, all humans can produce offspring of their own kind, and therefore we are all one species. As far as chimpanzees are concerned, there are actually two species: pan troglodytes, which is the common chimpanzee, and pan paniscus, which is the slender chimpanzee or bonobo. These two chimpanzee species are completely separate species. Humans and chimpanzees as species evolved from a common ancestor, possibly sahelanthropus tchadensis, about five or seven million years ago. Only fossils remain of this ancestor.

2. DNA

Human chromosomes on the left, chimps on the right

It is often said that human and chimpanzee DNA match 99%. Genetic comparison is not an easy task due to the nature of the gene mutation, so a more accurate estimate is somewhere between 85% and 95%. While this number may sound impressive, DNA has already been proven to be used by all living things for basic cellular functions. For example, we have about half the same DNA as a banana, and yet no one emphasizes this fact to show how similar a person can be to a banana! Thus, 95% do not say as much as it seems at first glance. Chimpanzees have 48 chromosomes, two more than humans. It is believed that this is a legacy from a human ancestor, two pairs of chromosomes merge into one pair. Interestingly, humans have the least genetic variation among all animals, so inbreeding can cause genetic problems. Even two completely unrelated people tend to be genetically more similar than two chimpanzee brothers.

3. Brain size

Chimpanzee brain from above, from below - human brain

The brain of a chimpanzee has an average volume of 370 cc. On the other hand, humans have an average brain size of around 1350cc. see However, the brain and its size in itself is not an absolute indicator of intelligence. Some Nobel Prize winners have had brain volumes below 900 cc. see, and some - more than 2000 cubic meters. see The structure and organization of different parts of the brain is the best way to determine intelligence. The human brain has a large surface area, so it has many more convolutions than the chimpanzee brain, which means that the human brain has more connections between parts of the brain. And also a relatively large frontal lobe allows us to have much more developed abstract and logical thinking.

4. Social communication skills

Chimpanzees spend a lot of time socializing. Much of their communication is in caring for each other. Juvenile and young chimpanzees often play, run after each other, and tickle each other. Adult chimpanzees often play with their offspring as well. Attention displays include hugging and kissing, and this occurs between chimpanzees of any age and gender. Bonobos are particularly outspoken, and almost every courtesy has a sexual connotation, regardless of gender. Chimpanzees strengthen friendships and spend a lot of time together grooming each other. Humans also spend about the same amount of time communicating, but we do it more verbally than physically. However, much of the vast amount of meaningless chatter is just a more complex version of chimpanzee behavior - and it serves slightly different purposes than strengthening our bonds. People also show a closer relationship through physical contact - friendly pats on the back or hugs. The size of the primate social group accurately reflects the size of their brains. Chimpanzees have about 50 close friends and acquaintances, while humans have between 150 and 200.

5. Language and facial expressions

Chimpanzees have complex systems of greetings and messages that depend on the social status of the communicating chimpanzees. They communicate verbally using a variety of calls, grunts, and other vocalizations. Most of their communication, however, is done through gestures and facial expressions. Many expressions from their facial expressions - surprise, smiles, imploring facial expressions and facial expressions of consolation - are the same as in humans. However, people smile showing their teeth, which for chimpanzees and many other animals is a sign of aggression or danger. Most human communication is done through vocalizations. Humans clearly have more complex vocal cords, which allows them to produce a wide range of sounds, but also prevents them from drinking and breathing at the same time, as chimpanzees do. In addition, humans have very muscular tongues and lips, allowing them to perform precise manipulations of their voices. This is why humans have pointed chins while chimpanzees have sloping chins - humans have most of the labial muscles in the lower jaw at the chin, but chimpanzees don't have many of these muscles and therefore don't need a prominent chin.

6. Nutrition

Chimpanzees and humans are omnivores (eat plants and meat). Humans are more carnivorous than chimpanzees and have smaller intestines for digesting meat. Chimpanzees sometimes hunt and kill other mammals, often other monkeys, but otherwise chimpanzees make do with fruit and sometimes insects. People are much more dependent on meat - people can only get vitamin B12 naturally from animal products. Based on our digestive systems and the lifestyles of the surviving tribes, it is believed that humans evolved by eating meat at least once every few days. Humans also tend to eat on a schedule rather than eating continuously throughout the day, which is a characteristic of other carnivores. This may be because meat could only be available after a successful hunt, and was therefore eaten in large quantities but infrequently. Chimpanzees will eat fruit throughout the day, while most humans will eat no more than three meals a day.

7. Sex

Bonobos are known for their sexual appetite. The common chimpanzee may become angry or aggressive, but bonobos relieve tension through sexual pleasure. They also greet each other and show their affection for each other through sexual arousal. The common chimpanzee does not use sex for recreation, and mating takes only ten or fifteen seconds, often during meals or during other activities. Friendship and emotional attachments have nothing to do with who the common chimpanzee associates with, and females in estrus usually mate with several males, who sometimes wait patiently for their turn one after another. Humans experience sexual pleasure like bonobos, but sex takes much longer and more effort to reproduce, resulting in long-term partnerships. Unlike humans, chimpanzees have no concept of sexual jealousy or rivalry, as they do not have long-term partners.

8. Walking upright

Both humans and chimps are bipedal and can walk on two legs. Chimpanzees often do this to see further, but prefer to move around on all fours. Humans have been walking upright since childhood and have developed a cup-shaped pelvis to support their internal organs. Chimpanzees walk by leaning forward during movement so that the pelvis does not support their organs, and they have wider hips. This makes childbirth much easier for a chimpanzee than for a human, whose cup-shaped pelvis is in the path of the large birth canal. Humans have straight legs with their toes forward for easy walking, while chimpanzees have a protruding big toe and their feet are more like hands. They use their legs for climbing and crawling sideways, diagonally, or for rotational movements.

9. Eyes

In humans, the iris of the eye is white, while the iris of a chimpanzee's eye is typically dark brown. This makes it easier to see where a person is looking, and there are several theories as to why this is. It can be an adaptation to a more complex social situation, when it is advantageous to see who others are looking at and what they think while doing so. This can help when hunting in complete silence, where eye direction is very important for communication. Or it could just be a genetic mutation with no purpose - some chimpanzees also have white irises. Both humans and chimpanzees can see in color, which helps them choose ripe fruits and plants for food, have binocular vision, their eyes look in the same direction. This helps to see in depth and is more important during hunting than the eyes on the sides of the head, like rabbits, which helps them avoid getting caught.

10. Tools

For many years it was believed that among animals, only humans use tools. Observations of chimpanzees conducted in 1960 showed the use of pointed branches to catch termites, but much has changed since then. Both humans and chimpanzees are able to change the environment by creating tools to solve everyday problems. Chimpanzees make spears, use rocks as hammers and anvils, and crush leaves to use as a makeshift sponge. It is believed that as a result of walking upright, our forelimbs are much more free to use tools, and we have elevated the use of tools to an art. We live in a constant environment with the products of our abilities, and much of what people think makes us "successful" is rooted in our tool making.

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Great apes (anthropomorphids, or hominoids) belong to the superfamily of narrow-nosed primates. These, in particular, include two families: hominids and gibbons. The body structure of narrow-nosed primates is similar to that of humans. This similarity between humans and great apes is the main one, allowing them to be assigned to the same taxon.

Evolution

For the first time great apes appeared at the end of the Oligocene in the Old World. This was about thirty million years ago. Among the ancestors of these primates, the most famous are primitive gibbon-like individuals - propliopithecus, from the tropics of Egypt. It was from them that dryopithecus, gibbons and pliopithecus further arose. In the Miocene, there was a sharp increase in the number and diversity of species of the then existing great apes. In that era, there was an active resettlement of driopithecus and other hominoids throughout Europe and Asia. Among the Asian individuals were the predecessors of orangutans. In accordance with the data of molecular biology, man and great apes split into two trunks about 8-6 million years ago.

fossil finds

The oldest known humanoids are considered to be Rukwapithecus, Kamoyapithecus, Morotopithecus, Limnopithecus, Ugandapithecus and Ramapithecus. Some scientists are of the opinion that modern great apes are descendants of parapithecus. But this point of view has insufficient justification due to the scarcity of the remains of the latter. As a relic hominoid, this refers to a mythical creature - Bigfoot.

Description of primates

Great apes have a larger body than monkey-like individuals. Narrow-nosed primates do not have a tail, ischial calluses (only gibbons have small ones), and cheek pouches. A characteristic feature of hominoids is the way they move. Instead of moving on all limbs along the branches, they move under the branches mainly on their hands. This mode of locomotion is called brachiation. Adaptation to its use provoked some anatomical changes: more flexible and longer arms, a flattened chest in the anterior-posterior direction. All great apes are able to stand up on their hind limbs, while freeing their front ones. All types of hominoids are characterized by a developed facial expression, the ability to think and analyze.

The difference between humans and apes

Narrow-nosed primates have significantly more hair, which covers almost the entire body, with the exception of small areas. Despite the similarity of man and great apes in structure, humans are not so strongly developed and have a much shorter length. At the same time, the legs of narrow-nosed primates are less developed, weaker and shorter. Great apes easily move through the trees. Often individuals swing on branches. During walking, as a rule, all limbs are used. Some individuals prefer the "walking on fists" method of movement. In this case, the body weight is transferred to the fingers, which are gathered into a fist. Differences between humans and great apes are also manifested in the level of intelligence. Despite the fact that narrow-nosed individuals are considered one of the most intelligent primates, their mental inclinations are not as developed as in humans. However, almost everyone has the ability to learn.

Habitat

Great apes inhabit the tropical forests of Asia and Africa. All existing species of primates are characterized by their habitat and lifestyle. Chimpanzees, for example, including pygmy ones, live on the ground and in trees. These representatives of primates are common in African forests of almost all types and in open savannahs. However, some species (bonobos, for example) are found only in the humid tropics of the Congo Basin. Subspecies of the gorilla: eastern and western lowland - are more common in humid African forests, and representatives of the mountain species prefer a forest with a temperate climate. These primates rarely climb trees due to their massiveness and spend almost all the time on the ground. Gorillas live in groups, with the number of members constantly changing. Orangutans, on the other hand, are usually solitary. They inhabit swampy and humid forests, climb trees perfectly, move from branch to branch somewhat slowly, but quite dexterously. Their arms are very long - reaching to the very ankles.

Speech

Since ancient times, people have sought to establish contact with animals. Many scientists have dealt with the teaching of great apes speech. However, the work did not give the expected results. Primates can only make single sounds that bear little resemblance to words, and the vocabulary as a whole is very limited, especially in comparison with talking parrots. The fact is that narrow-nosed primates lack certain sound-forming elements in the organs corresponding to human ones in the oral cavity. This explains the inability of individuals to develop the skills of pronunciation of modulated sounds. The expression of their emotions is carried out by monkeys in different ways. So, for example, a call to pay attention to them - with the sound "uh", passionate desire is manifested by puffing, a threat or fear - by a piercing, sharp cry. One individual recognizes the mood of another, looks at the expression of emotions, adopting certain manifestations. To transmit any information, facial expressions, gestures, posture act as the main mechanisms. With this in mind, the researchers tried to start talking to the monkeys with the help that deaf people use. Young monkeys quickly learn signs. After a fairly short period, people got the opportunity to talk with animals.

Perception of beauty

The researchers, not without pleasure, noted that the monkeys are very fond of drawing. In this case, the primates will act quite carefully. If you give a monkey paper, a brush and paints, then in the process of depicting something, he will try not to go beyond the edge of the sheet. In addition, animals quite skillfully divide the paper plane into several parts. Many scientists consider the paintings of primates to be strikingly dynamic, rhythmic, full of harmony both in color and in form. More than once it was possible to show the work of animals at art exhibitions. Researchers of primate behavior note that monkeys have an aesthetic sense, although it manifests itself in a rudimentary form. For example, while observing animals living in the wild, they saw how individuals sat at the forest edge during sunset and watched in fascination.