Ever since researchers sequenced the chimp genome in 2005, they have known that humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives.
Initial comparisons confirm that chimpanzees are our closest relatives, sharing 99% of our DNA. Gorillas come a close second with 98%, and orangutans third with a 97% share.
The recent sequencing of the gorilla, chimpanzee and bonobo genomes confirms that supposition and provides a clearer view of how we are connected: chimps and bonobos in particular take pride of place as our nearest living relatives, sharing approximately 99 percent of our DNA, with gorillas trailing at 98 percent.
Of the great apes — a biological family that includes humans — orangutans are our most distant relatives, whereas chimpanzees are the most closely related.
Bonobos are known as the "friendly" apes. Through the use of "bonobo TV," researchers found that bonobos' yawns are contagious, like humans. But while they have humanlike traits, their biggest threat comes from humans. "When the two groups meet, they will not be as aggressive as chimpanzees," Tan says.
A Hug a Day. Northern Muriqui Monkeys are the most peaceful primates in the world, living in uniquely egalitarian societies where relationships between males and females are free of conflict, and instead full of hugs.
Social Interactions. Orangutans are generally non-aggressive toward humans and each other. Many individuals reintroduced into the wild after having been in managed care are aggressive towards humans. Male-male competition for mates and territory has been observed between adults.
The IQ of an orangutan is 185 according to The Scale of Primate Intelligence. There are no tests devised that can test IQ in animals.
Chimpanzees
We share 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, so it comes as no surprise that countless hours of research have been dedicated to understanding the intelligence and behavior of our sister species. This research has firmly established that chimps are one of the most intelligent species on earth.
eLife digest
The human brain is about three times as big as the brain of our closest living relative, the chimpanzee.
Probably not. Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
Ever since researchers sequenced the chimp genome in 2005, they have known that humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives.
More startling is an even newer discovery: we share 99% of our DNA with lettuce. This could have startling philosophical, scientific and medical implications.
According to Lieberman's research, which uses models of primates' vocal tracts, monkeys and apes are unable to produce the range and succession of vowel sounds required for human speech because of the way their vocal tracts differ from humans'.
Monkeys and apes lack the neural control over their vocal tract muscles to properly configure them for speech, Fitch concludes. "If a human brain were in control, they could talk," he says, though it remains a bit of a mystery why other animals can produce at least rudimentary speech.
We do in fact share about 50% of our genes with plants – including bananas.” “Bananas have 44.1% of genetic makeup in common with humans.”
CHIMPANZEES. RECKONED to be the most-intelligent animals on the planet, chimps can manipulate the environment and their surroundings to help themselves and their community. They can work out how to use things as tools to get things done faster, and they have outsmarted people many a time.
1: Chimpanzee
Chimpanzees can learn sign language to communicate with humans. Topping our list of smartest animals is another great ape, the chimpanzee. The impressive intellectual abilities of this animal have long fascinated humans.
Dolphins cheat
Dolphins are often cited as the second smartest animals on Earth due to their relatively high brain-to-body size ratio, the capacity to show emotion, and impressive mimicry of the dumb apes who research them.
IQ tests are made to have an average score of 100. Psychologists revise the test every few years in order to maintain 100 as the average. Most people (about 68 percent) have an IQ between 85 and 115. Only a small fraction of people have a very low IQ (below 70) or a very high IQ (above 130).
Humans have the highest EQ at 7.4, but bottlenose dolphins have EQs of 5.3, significantly higher than all other animals.
In meaningful ways, dogs are smarter than our closest primate cousins: the bonobos, orangutans, and chimpanzees. More recent studies have found dogs using inferential reasoning: the ability to construct new knowledge by thinking.
Recent studies have placed the orangutan as the most intelligent of all great apes (aside from humans), with reasoning abilities beyond those of both gorillas and chimpanzees.
In subsequent experiments, the scientists also found that the chimpanzees efficiently detected the faces of human adults and babies, but were unable to identify monkey faces. The researchers suggest this gap may result from long-lasting social experiences between chimps and humans.
A gorilla would win in a fight against an orangutan. Gorillas are far better fighters and far more capable of inflicting fatal trauma on enemies. An orangutan might escape a gorilla by climbing trees, but that is not going to defeat the gorilla.