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Human Evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2017

Catherine Badgley
Catherine Badgley*
Affiliation:
Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
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Extract

The evolutionary history of humans is well understood in outline, compared to that of many other groups of mammals. But human evolution remains enigmatic in its details, and these are compelling both scientifically and personally because they relate to the biological uniqueness of humans. Humans are placed in the primate family Hominidae, which, in traditional classifications, contains a single living species, Homo sapiens. The closest living relatives of humans are great apes: the chimpanzees Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes, the gorilla Gorilla gorilla, and the orangutan Pongo pygmaeus. These apes have traditionally been placed in the family Pongidae as the sister group of Hominidae. Living Hominidae and Pongidae, together with Hylobatidae (gibbons) comprise the modern representatives of the primate suborder Hominoidea.

Type
Research Article
Information
Series in Geology, Notes for Short Course , Volume 8: Mammals , 1984 , pp. 182 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 University of Tennessee, Knoxville 

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