Facts About Ape

Apes are the nearest relatives of man with one great ape, the chimpanzee, sharing about 99% of its DNA with man. Even their social behavior and interactions with other apes bear a striking resemblance with humans. Apes are classed as old world anthropoid mammals belonging to the super-family Hominoidea. Apes are very intelligent creatures, second only to man. Earlier it was believed that using tools was only a human ability. However, with the documentation of apes in the wild in which chimpanzees were seen fishing for ants with twigs, there has been more respect for their intelligence. This is because using tools require higher intelligence. There has been huge amount of research on apes and it has been found that they can hunt with spears and communicate through sign language. They are so skillful that even in captivity they have been observed to outperform college students in basic memory tests. All these makes apes the true kin of man. If you want to know some interesting and amazing information on apes, then continue reading the article further.

Fast Facts

Scientific Name: Hominoidea
Type: Primates
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Subclass: Theria
Infraclass: Eutheria
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorrhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Origin: Africa and South East Asia
Diet: Mainly herbivorous, but some species also feed on meat
Size: 74 cm to 1.65 meters
Weight: 10 kg to 275 kg
Lifespan: 30 yrs to 50 yrs
Habitat: Rainforests and grasslands
Number Of Offspring: Typically one

Interesting And Fun Facts About Apes

• There are four different types of apes: gorilla, chimpanzee, gibbons, which are found in Africa, and orangutan, which is found in Indonesia.
• Apes are classified into two types: the great apes or anthropoid apes and the lesser apes or hylobatinaie apes. The gorilla, chimpanzee and orangutan are classed as great apes while the gibbons are classed as lesser ape.
• Unlike monkeys, apes do not have any tail. They are also more intelligent than monkeys as their brain is larger and more developed. So, they can learn as well as pass information with other apes. They are considered to be one of the most intelligent animals on earth.
• Among all the apes, chimpanzees are the most intelligent and they can be taught to do several tasks that human beings can do. They can even taught to communicate.
• Both the hands and feet of apes are prehensile and so they can grasp things with both. Apes also have complicated fingerprints and flat nails like humans. Their arms are longer than their legs and while walking they use their knuckles.
• Their gestures and facial expressions are very similar to humans, but they may have different meanings. Since they have different vocal cords, apes cannot speak. However, in captivity all the four types of apes have been able to learn sign language, which was taught by researchers.
• The skeletal structure of apes is similar to humans. However, unlike humans, their structure is designed to walk on all fours. Their organs and muscles are also quite similar to humans.
• Their eyes are highly developed and they have stereoscopic color vision. They rely more on their excellent vision than on smell.
• Other than the gorilla, all the apes are very skilled in climbing trees.
• The gorilla is the largest ape standing about six feet tall and weighing around 275 kg. The smallest ape is the gibbon, which has a height of only three feet and weighs around 10 kg.
• All the four apes live in different social structures. The gorillas live in small groups with a single adult male as leader, the chimpanzees live in large groups, and orangutans are solitary and the gibbons monogamous, territorial pair bonders.
• In various mythologies, apes are said to be the result of a curse. According to a Jewish folklore, one of the races that built the Tower of Babel became apes as punishment. In Islamic lore, it is said that the Jews of Eilat were punished to become apes for fishing on Sabbath. Also, a Christian lore claims that apes were a symbol of lust and greed and were created by Satan in response to God’s creation of humans.
• Orangutans live exclusively in trees and use their long arms to swing from branches. It is the only great ape that is arboreal. They also make a nest with leaves to sleep in. Orangutans make a new nest every evening.