great apes or hominoids is a superfamily that includes the most highly developed representatives of the order of primates. It also includes man and all his ancestors, but they are included in a separate family of hominids and will not be considered in detail in this article.

What distinguishes an ape from a human? First of all, some features of the body structure:

The human spine curves forward and backward.

The facial part of the skull of the great ape is larger than the brain.

The relative and even absolute volume of the brain is much smaller than that of a human.

The area of ​​the cerebral cortex is also smaller, in addition, the frontal and temporal lobes are less developed.

Great apes do not have a chin.

The chest is rounded, convex, and in humans it is flat.

The fangs of the monkey are enlarged and protrude forward.

The pelvis is narrower than in humans.

Since a person is erect, his sacrum is more powerful, since the center of gravity is transferred to it.

The monkey has a longer body and arms.

The legs, on the contrary, are shorter and weaker.

Monkeys have a flat prehensile foot with the thumb opposed to the rest. In humans, it is curved, and the thumb is parallel to the others.

A person has practically no wool cover.

In addition, there are a number of differences in thinking and activities. A person can think abstractly and communicate using speech. He has consciousness, is capable of generalizing information and compiling complex logical chains.

Signs of great apes:

large powerful body (much larger than other monkeys);

absence of a tail;

no cheek pouches

absence of ischial calluses.

Hominoids are also distinguished by their way of moving through trees. They do not run on them on all fours, like other representatives of the order of primates, but grab the branches with their hands.

Great ape skeleton also has a specific structure. The skull is located in front of the spine. At the same time, it has an elongated front part.

The jaws are strong, powerful, massive, adapted for chewing solid plant foods. The arms are noticeably longer than the legs. The foot is grasping, with the thumb set aside (as on a human hand).

The great apes are, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees. The first are singled out in a separate family, and the remaining three are combined into one - pongids. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

The gibbon family consists of four genera. All of them live in Asia: India, China, Indonesia, on the islands of Java and Kalimantan. Their color is usually gray, brown or black.

Their sizes are relatively small for great apes: the body length of the largest representatives reaches ninety centimeters, weight - thirteen kilograms.

The lifestyle is daytime. They live mainly in trees. On the ground they move uncertainly, mostly on their hind legs, only occasionally leaning on their front legs. However, they rarely go down. The basis of nutrition is plant foods - the fruits and leaves of fruit trees. They may also eat insects and bird eggs.

Pictured is the great ape gibbon

Gorilla is very great great ape. This is the largest representative of the family. The growth of a male can reach two meters, and weight - two hundred and fifty kilograms.

These are massive, muscular, incredibly strong and hardy monkeys. The coat color is usually black, older males may have a silvery-gray back.

They live in African forests and mountains. They prefer to be on the ground, on which they walk mainly on four legs, only occasionally rising to their feet. The diet is vegetable, includes leaves, grass, fruits and nuts.

Fairly peaceful, they show aggression towards other animals only in self-defense. Intraspecific conflicts occur, for the most part, between adult males over females. However, they are usually resolved by demonstrating threatening behavior, rarely reaching even fights, and even more so to murders.

Pictured is a gorilla monkey

Orangutans are the rarest modern great apes. Currently, they live mainly in Sumatra, although they used to be distributed throughout almost all of Asia.

These are the largest of the monkeys, living mainly in trees. Their height can reach one and a half meters, and weight - one hundred kilograms. The coat is long, wavy, and can be of various shades of red.

They live almost entirely in the trees, not even going down to get drunk. For this purpose, they usually use rainwater, which accumulates in the leaves.

For spending the night, they build nests for themselves in the branches, and every day they build a new dwelling. They live alone, forming pairs only during the breeding season.

Both modern species, Sumatran and Klimantan, are on the verge of extinction.

Pictured is an orangutan monkey

Chimpanzees are the smartest primates, great apes. They are the closest relatives of man in the animal kingdom. There are two types of them: ordinary and dwarf, also called. The dimensions of even the usual type are not too large. The coat color is usually black.

Unlike other hominoids, with the exception of humans, chimpanzees are omnivores. In addition to plant food, they also consume animal food, obtaining it by hunting. Quite aggressive. Often there are conflicts between individuals, leading to fights and death.

They live in groups, the number of which is, on average, ten to fifteen individuals. This is a real complex society with a clear structure and hierarchy. Common habitats are forests near water. The range is the western and central part of the African continent.

Pictured is a chimpanzee monkey

Ancestors of great apes very interesting and varied. In general, there are much more fossil species in this superfamily than living ones. The first of them appeared in Africa almost ten million years ago. Their further history is very closely connected with this continent.

It is believed that the line leading to humans separated from the rest of the hominoids about five million years ago. One of the likely contenders for the role of the first ancestor of the genus Homo is considered Australopithecus - great ape that lived more than four million years ago.

These creatures contain both archaic signs and more progressive, already human ones. However, the former are much more numerous, which does not allow australopithecines to be attributed directly to humans. There is also an opinion that this is a side, dead-end branch of evolution that did not lead to the emergence of more developed forms of primates, including humans.

And here is the statement that another interesting human ancestor, Sinanthropus - ape, is fundamentally wrong. However, the statement that he is the ancestor of man is not entirely correct, since this species already unequivocally belongs to the genus of people.

They already had a developed speech, language and their own, albeit primitive, but culture. It is very likely that Sinanthropus was the last ancestor of modern Homo sapiens. However, the option is not excluded that he, like Australopithecus, is the crown of a side branch of development.

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 are almost twice as long relative to the body 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.

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-producing 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.

The conclusions of systematics about the proximity of man to these monkeys are based on solid comparative morphological and comparative physiological material.

The latter serves as the basis for the theory of the pithecoid (monkey) origin of man, in view of which we will briefly dwell on it. A comparative morpho-physiological analysis of the characteristics of humans and anthropomorphic monkeys makes it possible, in particular, to outline the formulation of the question of the phylogenetic relationships between them. Indeed, it seems important to find out which of the three great apes is closer to humans.

The table compares, first of all, the main dimensional features of all four forms.

The table shows that for most of the listed dimensional features, chimpanzees and gorillas are closest to humans. At the same time, it is striking that, in terms of brain weight, chimpanzees are closest to humans.

hairline. The body of anthropomorphic monkeys is covered with coarse hair. The back and shoulders are more heavily haired (especially in the orang). The chest is slightly covered. The face, part of the forehead, the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands are devoid of hair. The back of the hand is slightly hairy. The undercoat is missing. Consequently, the hairline reveals the features of rudimentation, however, far from being as pronounced as in humans. In chimpanzees, sometimes the armpits are covered with hair (resemblance to humans). Orangs have a strong development of beards and mustaches (resemblance to humans). As in humans, the hair of the shoulder and forearm of all anthropomorphs is directed towards the elbow. In chimpanzees and orangs, as in humans, baldness is observed, especially in the hairless chimpanzee - A. calvus.

Dimensional signs	Orang	Chimpanzee	Gorilla	Man	The greatest proximity to a person in this trait
Body weight - kg	70-100	40-50	100-200	40-84	Chimpanzee
Height - m	Up to 1.5	Up to 1.5	Up to 2	1,40-1,80	Gorilla
Arm length to body length (100%)	223,6%	180,1%	188,5%	152,7%	Chimpanzee
Leg length to body length (100%)	111,2%	113,2%	113,0%	158,5%	Gorilla and chimpanzee
Wrist length as a percentage of body length (100%)	63,4%	57,5%	55,0%	36,8%	Gorilla
Foot length as a percentage of torso length (100%)	62,87%	52-62%	58-59%	46-60%	Gorilla
brain weight to body weight	1:200	1:90	1:220	1:45	Chimpanzee

Color of the skin. Chimpanzees have light skin, except for the face. The pigment is formed in the epidermis of the skin, as in humans.

Skull and jaw apparatus. The skull of an adult human differs sharply from that of apes in a number of ways. However, even here there are some similarities: the table compares some elements of the characteristics of the skulls of humans and great apes.

Selected elements of the characteristic, as well as the data in the table, show that African anthropomorphic monkeys are closer to humans than the orangutan. If we calculate the volume of the brain box of a chimpanzee in relation to its body weight, then this monkey will be the closest to man. The same conclusion follows from the comparison of the 5th, 6th, 10th and 12th indicators given in the table.

vertebral column. In humans, it forms an S-shaped profile line, that is, it functions like a spring that guarantees the brain from concussion. Cervical vertebrae with weak spinous processes. Anthropomorphic monkeys do not have an S-curve, the spinous processes are long, especially in the gorilla. They are most similar to human ones in chimpanzees, elongating evenly from the first to the last cervical vertebra, like in humans.

Rib cage. Its general shape in humans and anthropomorphic is barrel-shaped, somewhat compressed in the dorsal-abdominal direction. This configuration of the chest is characteristic only of man and anthropomorphic. In terms of the number of ribs, the orang is the closest to a person, having, like the last one, 12 pairs of ribs. However, the same number is observed in the gorilla, although it happens, like in the chimpanzee, 13 pairs. The human embryo normally has the same number of ribs that is sometimes found in an adult. Thus, anthropomorphic are very close in this feature to humans, especially orangutans. However, the chimpanzee and gorilla are closer to humans in the shape of the sternum, which consists of a small number of elements, more numerous in the orang.

limb skeleton. For anthropomorphic, as for all monkeys, a certain similarity in the functions of the fore and hind limbs is characteristic, since both arms and legs are involved in climbing a tree, and the forelimbs, which have a much greater lifting force than those of Homo, are of leading importance. Both limbs of the anthropomorphic are multifunctional, and the functions of the hand are wider and more diverse than the functions of the leg. In a person, the hand is completely freed from the function of movement, for which other functions associated with his labor activity have been extraordinarily enriched. The human leg, having become the only support of the body, on the contrary, experienced a process of narrowing of functions and, in particular, an almost complete loss of the grasping function. These relationships caused the development of significant differences in the structure of the skeleton of the limbs of anthropomorphic and human, especially the legs. The human leg - thigh and lower leg - significantly exceeds the same anthropomorphic elements in length.

The powerful development of muscles in the human leg has led to a number of features in the structure of its bones. The hip is characterized by a strong development of the rough line (linea aspera), a long neck and an obtuse angle at which it deviates from the body of the bone itself. There are a number of distinctive features in the human foot. Whereas in anthropomorphs, as a rule, the big toe is deflected at an angle to the others, in humans it is located approximately parallel to the rest of the fingers. This increases the supporting power of the leg, i.e., is a sign associated with upright walking. This is also confirmed by the fact that in the mountain gorilla, which often assumes an upright position, the big toe of the hind foot is similar in position to the human. Another feature of a person is the domed, concave lower surface of the sole, springy when walking. This feature is absent in the flat feet of monkeys. In the latter, the hand and foot are very long. The hand and foot of the gorilla, in general, are closer to the human, which is associated with a more developed chthonobiontism of this monkey.

Taz. The human pelvis is wider than it is long. The structure of the sacrum fused with it includes 5 sacral vertebrae, which increases the supporting force of the pelvis. The gorilla's pelvis is most similar to that of a human, followed by chimpanzees and orangutans. And in this feature, the closeness of the gorilla to man is a consequence of chthonousness.

muscles. A person has strongly developed leg muscles (upright posture), namely: the gluteal, quadriceps, gastrocnemius, soleus, third peroneal, square muscle of the foot. Like humans, anthropomorphic ear muscles are rudimentary, especially in orangs, while chimpanzees are able to move their ears. However, in general, the muscular system of African anthropomorphs is closer to the human than to that of the orangutan.

The brain of man and chimpanzee. (12). Both brains are shown equal in size for ease of comparison (actually, the chimpanzee brain (2) is much smaller). Brain areas: 1 - frontal, 2 - frontal granular, 3 - motor, 4 - parietal, 5 - striated, 6 - temporal, 7 - preoccipital, 8 - insular, 9 - postcentral. (From Nesturh)

Brain, sense organs. The volume of the cranium and the weight of the brain have already been indicated. Orangs and gorillas are farthest from humans in terms of brain weight, and chimpanzees are closest. The human brain is strikingly superior in volume and weight to the anthropomorphic brain. More. more important is the fact that it is richer in convolutions, although it is similar in this respect to the brain of anthropomorphs. However, the functional characteristics of the brain associated with its subtle (cytological) architectonics are of decisive importance. The figure shows that this latter is very similar in man and chimpanzee. However, the anthropomorphic ones do not have developed motor and sensory "speech centers", of which the first is responsible for the motor work of the human articulatory apparatus, and the second is for the semantic perception of the words heard. The cytological architectonics of the human brain is much more complex and more developed, especially within the frontal lobe, which makes up 47% of the lateral surface of the brain in humans, 33% in chimpanzees, 32% in gorillas, and even less in orangs.

sense organs human and anthropomorphic in many respects are similar. In all these forms, some reduction of the olfactory organs is observed. Human hearing is close in its perceptive features to the hearing of a gorilla, a chimpanzee has a greater ability to perceive high tones. The similarity of the auricle in African anthropomorphic and human is very great. Remarkably, the pinna gives variations that are remarkably similar to those of chimpanzees and other apes. Both man and anthropomorphic are characterized by great visual acuity, and, moreover, both three-dimensional (stereometric) and color.

Ontogenesis. Anthropomorphic embryogenesis is unusually similar to human embryogenesis. The early stages of development are generally hardly distinguishable in all monkeys. Differentiation according to species (and generic) characters begins at later stages. The figure shows that the heads of human embryos, chimpanzees and gorillas on the eve of birth, as well as the skulls of anthropomorphic newborns in humans, have many similarities - the roundness of the cranial vault, large, forward-directed rounded orbits, the dominance of the cranium over the jaw apparatus. There are also many similarities in the soft parts of the face. In chimpanzee and gorilla embryos, the eyeball protrudes noticeably from the orbit, due to the initial predominance of eyeball growth over orbital growth. In the human embryo, this discrepancy also takes place, but to a lesser extent. On the eyelids of human embryos and these monkeys, characteristic restrictive grooves are visible, which are weaker in humans. The ear of the gorilla fetus has a loose lobe, as in many people, etc. The general similarity of the embryos mentioned is therefore very great. Gorilla and chimpanzee embryos show distinct "whiskers" and "beards". In the human embryo, they are less developed, but Darwin pointed out ("The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection") that in the human embryo in the fifth month, the embryonic down around the mouth is noticeably elongated, so that in this sign; there is a clear resemblance.

However, during postembryonic development, signs of similarity give way to increasing signs of differences, i.e., ontogenetic divergence occurs. In the skull, it is expressed in the progressive development in anthropomorphic monkeys of the dentition, jaws, chewing muscles and sagittal crest (in the gorilla and orang) and the lag, compared with humans, in the development of the cranium.

General conclusion. The above comparative review leads to the following general conclusions:

a. Man and anthropomorphic monkeys have many similarities in the morpho-physiological organization and in the patterns of embryogenesis.

b. African forms (gorilla, chimpanzee) are closer to humans than the orangutan. The chimpanzee is closest to man, but in a number of signs - a gorilla, in a few - an orangutan.

in. If we take into account the phenomena of the ontogenetic divergence noted above and the fact that signs of similarity with humans are scattered within all three genera of anthropoid apes, then the final conclusion from the review will be the following: humans and anthropomorphic apes originate from a common root, and later historically developed in divergent directions.

Thus, we see that the theory of the pithecoid (monkey) origin of man corresponds to comparative morphological and comparative physiological data.

Differences in the structure and behavior of humans and animals

Along with similarities, humans have certain differences from monkeys.

In monkeys, the spine is arched, while in humans it has four bends, giving it an S-shape. A person has a wider pelvis, an arched foot that softens the concussion of internal organs when walking, a wide chest, the ratio of the length of the limbs and the development of their individual parts, structural features of muscles and internal organs.

A number of structural features of a person are associated with his labor activity and the development of thinking. In humans, the thumb on the hand is opposed to other fingers, so that the hand can perform a variety of actions. The cerebral part of the skull in humans prevails over the facial one due to the large volume of the brain, reaching approximately 1200-1450 cm 3 (in monkeys - 600 cm 3), the chin is well developed on the lower jaw.

The big differences between monkeys and humans are due to the adaptation of the first to life on trees. This feature, in turn, leads to many others. The essential differences between man and animals lie in the fact that man has acquired qualitatively new features - the ability to walk upright, the release of hands and their use as labor organs for the manufacture of tools, articulate speech as a method of communication, consciousness, i.e. those properties that closely related to the development of human society. Man not only uses the surrounding nature, but subjugates, actively changes it according to his needs, he himself creates the necessary things.

Similarities between humans and great apes

The same expression of feelings of joy, anger, sadness.

Monkeys gently caress their cubs.

Monkeys take care of children, but also punish them for disobedience.

Monkeys have a well-developed memory.

Monkeys are able to use natural objects as the simplest tools.

Monkeys have concrete thinking.

Monkeys can walk on their hind limbs, leaning on their hands.

On the fingers of monkeys, like humans, nails, not claws.

Monkeys have 4 incisors and 8 molars - like humans.

Humans and monkeys have common diseases (influenza, AIDS, smallpox, cholera, typhoid fever).

In humans and great apes, the structure of all organ systems is similar.

Biochemical evidence for human-monkey affinity:

the degree of hybridization of human and chimpanzee DNA is 90-98%, human and gibbon - 76%, human and macaque - 66%;

Cytological evidence of the proximity of man and monkeys:

humans have 46 chromosomes, chimpanzees and monkeys have 48 each, and gibbons have 44;

in the chromosomes of the 5th pair of chimpanzee and human chromosomes there is an inverted pericentric region

All of the above facts indicate that man and great apes descended from a common ancestor and make it possible to determine the place of man in the system of the organic world.

The similarity between man and monkeys is evidence of their kinship, common origin, and the differences are the result of different directions in the evolution of monkeys and human ancestors, especially the influence of human labor (tool) activity. Labor is the leading factor in the process of turning a monkey into a man.

F. Engels drew attention to this feature of human evolution in his essay "The Role of Labor in the Process of the Transformation of Apes into Humans", which was written in 1876-1878. and published in 1896. He was the first to analyze the qualitative originality and significance of social factors in the historical development of man.

The decisive step for the transition from ape to man was taken in connection with the transition of our most ancient ancestors from walking on all fours and climbing to a straight gait. Man's articulate speech and social life developed in labor activity, with which, as Engels said, we enter the realm of history. If the psyche of animals is determined only by biological laws, then the human psyche is the result of social development and influence.