Primates and great apes

In short: Primates are an order of mammals with well-developed brains, grasping hands, and often high intelligence. Great apes such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans are our closest living relatives.

In more detail: Humans also belong to the primates and share over 98 percent of their DNA sequence with chimpanzees.

In detail

• Grasping hands and feet: Opposable thumbs allow precise grasping of objects, important for tool use.
• Large brain: Primates often have larger brains relative to body size than other mammals.
• Social structures: Many primate species live in complex groups with hierarchies, cooperation, and conflict.
• Tool use: Chimpanzees use sticks to fish for termites or stones to crack nuts, for example.
• Communication: Gestures, calls, and facial expressions enable nuanced social communication in many primates.
• Threats: Habitat loss from deforestation and poaching acutely endanger many great ape species.
• Relation to humans: Genetic and behavioural similarities make great apes important research subjects for human evolution (evolution-grundlagen, saeugetiere-ueberblick).