Humans are classified in the order Primates, and family Hominade. Within this family, human beings, our nearest living relatives, the African apes, are also placed. Though in some classification standards, apes are placed in the family Pongidae. The defining characteristic of Hominids is their ability to walk bi-pedally, using two feet and walking upright. This form of movement lead to many adaptations within the Hominids skeleton. There are notable changes in the spinal cord, pelvis bone and legs. The chimpanzee does have the ability to walk upright and does, but it spends most of the time walking on four limbs. It uses its arms as it's front legs and walks on its knuckles. Our brain capacity is about twice as large as that of the chimp. Humans have a brain capacity of 1300 to 1500 cc, while the chimps are about 600 - 800 cc. It is though by scientists that our brain size grew over time as were evolved into making complex tools and we became increasingly sophisticated. The hu!
             man skull is slightly different from that of our primate ancestors, these changes occurred over thousands of years of evolution. Over time, the human skull and teeth have decreased from that of our ancestors. The chimp has much larger canine teeth and a protruding jaw line. The chimpanzee and human differences and similarities are very eye opening, especially to someone who is seeing most of this information for the first time. Although I believe that there is a lot to prove, I do think our direct ancestors were the primates and there should be a lot of research to prove even more similarities.
             The chimpanzees teach us that it is not only human but also non-human beings that matter in the scheme of things.
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