Chimpanzee A
Family tree
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The closest relatives of men (homo sapiens sapiens) alive are
the Hylobatidae (lesser apes) and the Pongidae (great apes).
The Hylobatidae consist of gibbons and siamangs, the members
of the Pongidae are Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobo (Pan
paniscus), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), orang utans (Pongo pygmaeus)
and the humans (homo sapiens sapiens). Hylobatidae and Pongidae
constitute the superfamily of Hominoidea. The Hominoidea divided
from another superfamily called the old world monkeys (Cercopithecoidea)
about 23 million years ago. Members of the old world monkeys
are e.g. macaques and baboons.
Simultaneous to the time of split between Hominoidea and old
world monkeys the first member of the species homo (homo habilis)
appeared. The homo species have probably evolved from fossils
of the genus Australopithecus. Homo habilis showed morphological
characteristics of both Australopithecines and humans. Descendants
of homo habilis were e.g. homo ergaster, homo erectus, homo heidelbergensis
and finally homo sapiens sapiens.