Ape
hideHylobatidae Hominidae †Proconsulidae †Dryopithecidae †Oreopithecidae †Pliopithecidae
An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. In less scientific language, it has various meanings, although it often (but not always) excludes humans. Due to its ambiguous nature, the term 'ape' is less suitable as a means of describing taxonomic relationships.
Under the current classification system there are two families of hominoids:
A few other primates, such as the Barbary Ape, have the word "ape" in their common names (usually to indicate lack of a tail), but they are not regarded as true apes.
Except for gorillas and humans, all true apes are agile climbers of trees. They are best described as omnivorous, their diet consisting of fruit, grass seeds, and in most cases some quantities of meat and invertebrates—either hunted or scavenged—along with anything else available and easily digested. They are native to Africa and Asia, although humans have spread to all parts of the world. A group of apes is called a "shrewdness".
Most ape species are rare or endangered. The chief threat to most of the endangered species is loss of tropical rainforest habitat, though some populations are further imperiled by hunting for bushmeat.
For more information about Ape, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with apes
For economic success, channel your inner bonobo
Oct 12, 2009 |
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Psychology Professor Marc Hauser dispels misconceptions about human and ape behavior with regard to patience, impulsiveness, and economic interactions in Harvard Museum of Natural History talk.
Bipedal humans came down from the trees, not up from the ground (w/ Video)
Aug 10, 2009 |
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A detailed examination of the wrist bones of several primate species challenges the notion that humans evolved their two-legged upright walking style from a knuckle-walking ancestor.
Chimps, like humans, focus on faces
Jul 23, 2009 |
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A chimp's attention is captured by faces more effectively than by bananas. A series of experiments described in BioMed Central's open access journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests that the apes are wired to res ...
The common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes may have originated in Asia
Jul 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The discovery of a new primate fossil in Myanmar (formerly Burma) lends weight to the hypothesis that the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes (anthropoid primates) originated in Asia, and not in Africa. ...
Humans related to orangutans, not chimps
Jun 18, 2009 |
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New evidence underscores the theory of human origin that suggests humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, according to research from the University of Pittsburgh and the Buffalo Museum of ...
Illegal trade devastates Sumatran orangutan population, report says
Apr 17, 2009 |
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Lack of law enforcement against illegal trade in Indonesia threatens the survival of orangutans and gibbons on Sumatra, a new study by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC shows.
Holding a mirror up to a gibbon’s mind
Mar 04, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Queensland developmental psychologists have taken a step into our evolutionary past by studying gibbons.
Upping the ant-e: Clever chimps boost termite catch
Mar 04, 2009 |
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Chimpanzees not only use a tool to snare termites but are able to modify it as well, a skill that requires conceptual and cultural skills, scientists said on Wednesday.
Pubic hair provides evolutionary home for gorilla lice
Biology /
Feb 11, 2009 |
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There are two species of lice that infest humans: pubic lice, Pthirus pubis, and human head and body lice, Pediculus humanus. A new article in BioMed Central's open access Journal of Biology suggests one explanation for ...
How gorilla gestures point to evolution of human language
Biology /
Feb 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the University of St Andrews have discovered that gorillas have a more extensive repertoire of gestures than any other mammal.
