Apes (Types of Apes)

The hominoids include all the apes and humans. Four types of apes have survived until today. They are the Gibbons and the Orangutan which are found in Asia, the Gorilla and the Chimpanzee live in Africa. Chimpanzee which live both in trees and on the ground are the most human-like among the apes in appearance.

The hominids emerged out from the hominoids and so differed from the apes in many ways. The hominids line of descent begun with its earliest definite ancestor being the Australopithecines, which evolved and diversified in east Africa. It is believed to represent a transitional stage between apes and humans.

The two critical steps in the evolution of humans were the emergence of bipedalism and the enlargement of the brain. The australopithecines were bipedal locomotion (two legs for locomotion). Their brains were about 350 to 450cc in volume as compared with an average volume of about 1450cc in modern humans.