GRASP has compiled a number of informative sources for individuals interested
in learning more about great apes and GRASP. Beside basic information about great
apes, we have compiled fact sheets for each of the great apes species and provided
informative and necessary key documents. Please note that the compiled information
is just a sample and much more information is available elsewhere.
Summary Information on the Great Apes
The great apes, just like humans, are primates and all belong to the same taxonomic
family (Hominidae), with seven living species currently recognized. Six are
confined to various forested or wooded habitats in the Old World Tropics (the
tropical parts of Africa and Eurasia). All of these are considered under threat
of extinction, some critically so. The seventh is ubiquitous and enormously
abundant, probably the most numerous large animal that has ever lived. That
is Homo sapiens, our own species. The parlous state of the other members of
the family Hominidae can be ascribed in its entirety directly or indirectly
to the activities of humans.
Ian Redmond
Bonobo
Apart from Homo there are three genera of extant great apes: the gorillas:
Gorilla, chimpanzees: Pan, and orangutans: Pongo. The first two of these are
confined to Africa, while the third occurs in Southeast Asia, on the islands
of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia and Malaysia. The gorillas are divided into
the eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) and the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla).
The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) comprises the subspecies: eastern lowland
gorilla or the Grauers gorilla (G.beringei graueri), the mountain gorilla (G.
beringei beringei) and the Bwindi gorilla (G. beringei ssp). The western gorilla
(Gorilla gorilla) comprises the subspecies: western lowland gorilla (G.gorilla
gorilla) and the cross-river gorilla (G gorilla diehli). The chimpanzees comprise
of the bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee (pan paniscus) and the robust chimpanzee (pan
troglodytes), which has the subspecies: western chimpanzee (p.troglodytes verus),
Nigeria chimpanzee (p.troglodytes velerosus) central chimpanzee (p.troglodytes
troglodytes) and the eastern chimpanzee (p.troglodytes schweinfurthii). The
orangutans are separated into the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and the
Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). See annex 1 for more detailed taxonomy.
Great apes share more than 96 percent of their DNA with humans. For chimpanzees
the figure is as high as 98.4%. The African apes are in fact more closely related
to humans than they are to orangutans. So close is our relationship that a taxonomist
from another planet would probably classify humans as another African ape species.
Great
Apes Survival Partnership
