Similarities and Differences between Humans and Chimpanzees

Similarities and Differences between Humans and Chimpanzees

Introduction

Humans and chimps have noticeable physical differences but share more than 98% of their genes. Humans and chimps are closely related in evolution but are not identical. The genome sequence is a long-awaited breakthrough that provides opportunities to learn about primate evolution and genetic contributions to human disease and physiology. Humans and chimps shared a common ancestor around 5-7 million years ago (Segal, 2017). A human genome differs from a chimp genome by about 4%, with 35 million single nucleotide differences and 90 Megabases of deletions and insertions. Humans tend to believe they have uniquely human characteristics, although some possible and definite phenotypic traits seem to differentiate humans from chimpanzees and “other great apes.” Furthermore, certain genetic traits interact with the environment to produce differences between the two species. Because of their close evolutionary relationship to humans, chimps have been extensively used as models in studying human diseases and a few disorders.

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Humans and chimps have many similarities and differences.

Human neocortex expansion is likely to have contributed to humans’ incredible mental abilities. This neocortical expansion appears to be driven primarily by differences in the proliferation versus differentiation of neural progenitors during cortical development. The composition of the cell type, cytoarchitecture, and expression programs of the neurogenic gene of chimps and humans are remarkably comparable during cerebral organoids analysis using single-cell transcriptomics, live imaging, and immunohistofluorescence (Barak et al., 2017). Human brains are roughly three times larger than those of chimps, the closest evolutionary human relative. The cerebral cortex, part of the brain that controls awareness, memory, thought, and attention in humans, has twice as many cells as the same part of the brain in chimps. The cerebral cortex networks of the two species function differently.

The differences between the two species emerge ambiguously. They are more likely to arise during the early stages of development during progenitor and brain stem cell division, giving rise to cerebral cortex cells in the developing brain. According to the analysis experiments, the organoids in the brains of humans and chimps are strikingly similar in many ways, such as cell arrangement and cell type mix. The time it takes progenitor cells to divide in metaphase influences brain development in humans and chimps. However, compared to chimps, humans have a higher mental capacity due to neocortex expansion in primate evolution (Barak et al., 2017). This expansion involves the multiplication of cortical neuron numbers produced during the fetus’s development as a human. The expansion of the neocortex reveals the differences between chimps and humans. It primarily reflects a prolonged and increased proliferative capacity of human progenitor and neural stem cells in the developing neocortex’s germinal regions. As a result, the critical difference that accounts for the 2% stems from how both species reason, as determined by the ambitious human genome sequencing project in biological history.

Humans and chimps are genetically related because they share approximately 98.6% of human DNA. Despite its size, the human brain is structurally similar to that of a chimp, as both are capable of generalization, reasoned thought, and abstraction. Unlike most animals, chimps can recognize themselves in a mirror (Liu et al., 2012). The muscles, bones, number of fingers and toes, and nervous system of a chimp are structurally identical to those of humans. Chimps, like humans, spend their first five years of life socializing, playing, and developing a strong bond with their mothers. Chimpanzees laugh like humans when they are tickled.

The most recent research findings on chimp behavioral characteristics show that these species could be considered “cousins” of humans. This is because they, like humans, laugh and smile silently, and they are gourmands. They play like humans, know they can reason, distinguish between fair and unfair, and form friendships. The games that chimp and humans play help them form strong social bonds and develop accommodating attitudes (Neubauer et al., 2010). Playmates and game modes change as chimps mature, just like humans. The chimps are gourmands, willing to travel great distances to obtain the ingredients for a delectable meal. Chimps, like humans, prefer cooked food to raw food and can comprehend the transformation that occurs during the cooking process. According to recent research from several US universities, chimps have meta-cognition similar to humans in that they can reflect on their mental processes and thoughts.

Other similarities between chimps and humans include that chimps experience and perceive the universe in the same way humans do. This is because they have the same senses as humans regarding hearing, sight, touch, and smell. According to Dr. Jane Goodall’s research, she discovered an important fact: chimps use tools. While humans do not use the same tools as chimps to search for tasty termites, they are handy for almost everything else (Whiten, 2011). Humans, for example, teach their children to share, whereas chimps share their tools and food. Dr. Jane Goodall made another early discovery: chimps, like humans, hunt for meat in groups. Chimpanzees use body language like humans do, such as hugging, kissing, patting each other on the back, shaking fists, and holding hands. Chimpanzees not only talk like humans, but they also express emotions such as sadness, fear, joy, and even empathy. There are numerous physical differences between chimps and humans. Humans have larger brains, walk on two legs, and have little hair. Chimps, like humans, deserve to be loved, protected, and safe.

Conclusion

It is a myth that humans evolved from chimps. The only thing the two species have in common is a common ancestor. The modern chimps result from the evolution of a subset of this ancestral population. Other populations of these ancestors gave rise to Homo sapiens, now humans, due to evolution along a line of various early human species. Chimpanzees and humans share approximately 98% of their DNA, making them genetically related. Chimps and humans share the same physical characteristics, intelligence, and complex emotions. However, the line between the animal kingdom and humans is blurred, as demonstrated by chimps more than by any other living creature.

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References

Barak, M. M., Sherratt, E., & Lieberman, D. E. (2017). I am using principal trabecular orientation to differentiate joint loading orientation in the 3rd metacarpal heads of humans and chimpanzees. Journal of human evolution, 113, 173-182.

Boesch, C., Bombjaková, D., Boyette, A., & Meier, A. (2017). Technical intelligence and culture: Nut cracking in humans and chimpanzees. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 163(2), 339-355.

Liu, X., Somel, M., Tang, L., Yan, Z., Jiang, X., Guo, S., … & Khaitovich, P. (2012). Extension of cortical synaptic development distinguishes humans from chimpanzees and macaques. Genome Research, 22(4), 611–622.

MacLean, E. L., Herrmann, E., Suchindran, S., & Hare, B. (2017). Individual differences in collaborative and communicative skills are more similar between dogs and humans than chimpanzees. Animal Behaviour, 126, 41-51.

Neubauer, S., Gunz, P., & Hublin, J. J. (2010). Endocranial shape changes during growth in chimpanzees and humans: a morphometric analysis of unique and shared aspects. Journal of human evolution, 59(5), 555-566.

Segal, D. A. (2017). Witnessing Chimpanzee—Human Closeness: Jane Goodall at Gombe and Since. Anthropological Quarterly, 1189–1235.

Sherwood, C. C., Gordon, A. D., Allen, J. S., Phillips, K. A., Erwin, J. M., Hof, P. R., & Hopkins, D. (2011). The aging of the cerebral cortex differs between humans and chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(32), 13029–13034.

Ward, M. C., & Gilad, Y. (2019). A generally conserved response to hypoxia in iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes from humans and chimpanzees. Elife, 8, e42374.

Whiten, A. (2011). The scope of culture in chimpanzees, humans, and ancestral apes. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366(1567), 997–1007.

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INITIAL POST: Be sure to number/label your responses accordingly.

• In your own words and drawing from the article, answer the following questions- be sure to discuss your responses fully:
  1. What are the similarities and differences between chimps and humans?
     

     Similarities and Differences between Humans and Chimpanzees

  2. How much of our DNA differs from chimps? How do these differences come about?
  3. What is the structure of DNA? How much of this material is different between chimps and humans, given the 2% overall difference between us?
  4. How are chimp and human brains similar, and how are they different?
  5. What is shocking about the “2% solution”?

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/the-2-difference