Humans and apes

[john Grehan]

I made no distinction here between the bonobo and the chimp in terms of
this group and the orangutan. Whether one considers the nearest relative to
be chimp, bonobo (either would seem to make Pan paraphyletic unless one
takes it to be chimp + bononbo) or gorilla, the basic competing hypothesis
seems to come down to a choice between our nearest relative being
knuckle-walking/thin enamel African apes or the non-knuckle-walking/thick
enamel Asian orangutans.

John

At 08:43 AM 3/11/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>At 09:25 AM 3/11/03 -0500, you wrote:
>
>>I have a question regarding a primate exhibit we have prepared for our
>>museum. In this exhibit we present to the public the current state of
>>hominid systematics involving two major competing proposals for the
>>nearest living relative to humans. One hypothesis is the chimp (sometimes
>>chimp and gorilla), the other is the orangutan.
>
>What happened to the bonobo?  Or am I that out of touch with primate biology?
>
>Tom
>
>
>
>
>
>>We emphasize that there are two
>>candidates for nearest relative and that the answer is a matter of current
>>scientific debate.
>>
>>In the popular science literature the orangutan hypothesis is usually
>>suppressed entirely (e.g. recent article in the Natural History magazine)
>>or glossed over if mentioned at all. In our exhibit we attempt to give some
>>of the evidence for each. I am curious to know whether any other museums
>>have presented both models to the public, or by some chance are we the first?
>>
>>Comments on that status or not for our exhibit would be most welcome. I
>>regret I have not had the opportunity to visit other museum primate
>>exhibits to even begin to answer this for myself and TAXACOM offers a
>>chance for me to obtain a global response.
>>
>>John Grehan
>>
>>Dr. John Grehan
>>Director of Science and Collections
>>Buffalo Museum of Science
>>1020 Humboldt Parkway
>>Buffalo, New York 14211-1293
>>Voice 716-896-5200 x372
>>Fax 716-897-6723
>>jgrehan at sciencebuff.org
>
>Thomas G. Lammers, Ph.D.
>
>Assistant Professor and Curator of the Herbarium (OSH)
>Department of Biology and Microbiology
>University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
>Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901-8640 USA
>
>e-mail:       lammers at uwosh.edu
>phone:      920-424-1002
>fax:           920-424-1101
>
>Plant systematics; classification, nomenclature, evolution, and biogeography
>of the Campanulaceae s. lat.
>
>Webpages:
>http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/Lammers.htm
>http://www.uwosh.edu/departments/biology/herbarium/herbarium.html
>http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Resort/7156/lammers.html
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>"Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that stood his ground."
>                                                               -- Anonymous

Dr. John Grehan
Director of Science and Collections
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Parkway
Buffalo, New York 14211-1293
Voice 716-896-5200 x372
Fax 716-897-6723
jgrehan at sciencebuff.org