ape: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	Hominoidea

Photos and Videos

Illustration comparing the body plans of representative anthropoids, showing a male western lowland gorilla, a male human, a male bonobo, a female Bornean orangutan, and male and female northern white-cheeked gibbons, all labeled and depicted to scale.

Female orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) with reddish-brown fur sits on tree branches in a lush rainforest in Borneo.

gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)

Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

Diagram tracing the evolutionary split of humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas over the past 12 million years, with skull illustrations for key hominin species and African great apes, and branching lines showing divergence points.

A mother orangutan hangs from a tree branch while her baby clings to her side in the forest of Mount Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia.

A siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) with black fur sits on rocky ground, facing left, with large rocks in the background.

The video thumbnail image shows two black and white photos of monkey and ape heads, surrounded by blue and pink circles.

A gorilla sits on a tree trunk with a blue arrow pointing to it. Large text reads, "What makes apes so special?" with trees and zoo habitat in the background.

Why don't humans have tails?

How evolution reveals the differences between humans and apes

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Topics

gibbon great ape lesser ape How Do Monkeys and Apes Trim Their Fingernails?Hominidae What’s the Difference Between Monkeys and Apes?Why do apes live in groups?Orangutan or gorilla: Which is bigger?Australopithecus Ardipithecus monkey marmoset Ramapithecus Sivapithecus Dryopithecus Oreopithecus

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primate: Introduction

Key People

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Robert M. Yerkes

American psychologist

Giraffe standing in grass, Kenya.

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Nine-Banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus).

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Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

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The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is seen in Switzerland on December 2024

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Lion (panthera leo)

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Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)

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