Humans are bipedal primates belonging to the species Homo sapiens in Hominidae, the great ape family. Compared to other species,
humans have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection and problem solving. This mental
capability, combined with an erect body carriage that frees the arms for manipulating objects, has allowed humans to make
far greater use of tools than any other species.
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo
River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:
Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling and predominantly herbivorous. They inhabit the
forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and (still under debate as of 2008) either four or five subspecies.
The DNA of gorillas is 98%–99% identical to that of a human, and they are the next closest living relatives to humans after
the two chimpanzee species. Gorillas live in tropical or subtropical forests.
Homo erectus is an extinct species of the genus Homo, which originated in Africa and to have spread as far as China and Java.
Amongst scientists it is uncontroversially considered to be a direct ancestor of modern humans. H. erectus originally migrated
from Africa during the Early Pleistocene, possibly as a result of the operation of the Saharan pump, around 2.0 million years
ago, and dispersed throughout much of the Old World.
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be about 2.5 million years
old, evolving from Australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis. Appearance of Homo coincides with the
first evidence of stone tools, and thus by definition with the beginning of the Lower Paleolithic. All species except Homo
sapiens (modern humans) are extinct.
The Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also known as the Robust Chimpanzee, is a great ape. The name troglodytes, Greek
for 'cave-dweller', was coined by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in his Handbuch der Naturgeschichte (Handbook of Natural History)
published in 1779. Colloquially, it is often called the chimpanzee (or simply 'chimp'), though technically this term refers
to both species in the genus Pan: the Common Chimpanzee and the closely-related Bonobo, or Pygmy Chimpanzee.
