Hominid

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Hominid

A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae
Hominidae

The Hominidae form a taxonomic biological family, including four extant genus: Homo s, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans.A number of known extinct genera are grouped with humans in the Hominina subtribe, others with orangutans in the Ponginae subtribe....
(the "great apes"), including the extinct and extant human

Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
s, chimpanzee

Chimpanzee

Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially known as a chimp, is the common name for the two Extant taxon species of ape in the genus Pan where the Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, gorilla

Gorilla

Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling herbivores that inhabit the forests of Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies....
s, and orangutan

Orangutan

The orangutans are a species of Hominidae. Known for their intelligence, they live in trees and they are the largest living arboreal animal. They have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes....
s. This classification has been revised

Ape

An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. In less scientific language, it has various meanings, although it often excludes humans....
several times in the last few decades. These various revisions have led to a varied use of the word "hominid": the original meaning of Hominidae referred only to the modern meaning of Hominina

Hominina

The more anthropomorphic primates of the Hominini tribe are placed in the Hominina subtribe. They are characterized by the evolution of an increasingly erect bipedal locomotion....
, i.e. only humans and their closest relatives. The meaning of the taxon

Taxon

A taxon or taxonomic unit is a name designating an organism or a group of organisms. In biological nomenclature according to Carl Linnaeus, a taxon is assigned a taxonomic rank and can be placed at a particular level in a systematic hierarchy reflecting evolutionary relationships....
changed gradually, leading to the modern meaning of "hominid," which includes all great apes.

The primatological

Primatology

Primatology is the study of primates. It is a diverse discipline and primatologists can be found in departments of biology, anthropology, psychology and many others....
term hominid is easily confused with a number of very similar words:

Certain morphological

Morphology (biology)

The term morphology in biology refers to form, structure and configuration of an organism. This includes aspects of the outward appearance as well as the form and structure of the internal parts like bones and organs....
characteristics are still used conventionally to support the idea that hominid should only denote humans and human ancestors, namely bipedalism (walking on two feet) and large brain

Brain

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Encyclopedia

Human

Chimpanzee

Gorilla

Orangutan

Ape

Hominina

Taxon

Primatology

A hominoid or ape
Ape

An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. In less scientific language, it has various meanings, although it often excludes humans....
is a member of the superfamily Hominoidea
Ape

An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. In less scientific language, it has various meanings, although it often excludes humans....
: extant members are the lesser apes (gibbon
Gibbon

Gibbons are the small apes in the family Hylobatidae. The family is divided into four genus based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus ....
s) and great apes.
A hominine is a member of the subfamily Homininae
Homininae

Homininae is a subfamily of Hominidae, including humans and some extinct relatives, as well as the gorillas and the chimpanzees. It comprises all those wikt:hominid, such as Australopithecus, that arose after the split from the other great apes ....
: gorillas, chimpanzees, humans (excludes orangutan
Orangutan

The orangutans are a species of Hominidae. Known for their intelligence, they live in trees and they are the largest living arboreal animal. They have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes....
s).
A hominin is a member of the tribe Hominini
Hominini

Hominini is the tribe of Homininae that comprises homo and two species of chimpanzee , their ancestors, and the extinct lineages of their Most recent common ancestor....
: chimpanzees and humans.
A hominan is a member of the sub-tribe Hominina
Hominina

The more anthropomorphic primates of the Hominini tribe are placed in the Hominina subtribe. They are characterized by the evolution of an increasingly erect bipedal locomotion....
: modern humans and their extinct relatives.
A human
Human

A human being, also human or man, is a member of a species of bipedalism primates in the family Hominidae . Mitochondrial DNA evidence indicates that modern humans originated in east Africa about 200,000 years ago....
is a member of the genus Homo
Homo (genus)

Homo is the genus that includes anatomically modern humanss and their close relatives. The genus is estimated to be about 2.5 million years old, evolving from Australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
, of which Homo sapiens sapiens is the only extant subspecies.

Certain morphological

Morphology (biology)

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as cnidarian and echinoderm have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all....
s. These points of departure between human beings and the other great apes are important, but according to genetically based taxonomic classification

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
, are not enough to divide us into separate families. Genetics

Genetics

Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of heredity and Genetic variation in living organisms. The fact that living things inherit traits from their parents has been used since prehistoric times to improve crop plants and animals through selective breeding....
, rather than morphology, is more widely accepted as the critical standard. Many scientists, including anthropologists, use the term hominid to mean humans and their direct and near-direct bipedal ancestors.

Hominid

See also