Question

What are the chromosomal similarities found in apes and man? What do such similarities indicate?

Answer 1

Apes are the old tailless simians that were native to Africa and southeast Asia. They include an orangutan, gorilla, and chimpanzee. They differed from the primates by having greater degree of motion at the shoulder joints. Man is the higher primate which has a well-developed brain. The humans evolved several years back from hominins.

Complete answer:
Humans or Homo sapiens are considered as the most evolved primates. They evolved from Homo erectus. The apes and humans both belong to the same family Hominidae. Human evolution is the result of changes like developmental, morphological, physiological, behavioural changes after they have evolved from the ancestors’ apes. Some adaptations include obligate bipedalism, decreased sexual dimorphism and increased brain size.

The similarities in terms of chromosome include the similar banding pattern which is seen in the banding study by using specific stains. Although the number of chromosomes differ in the man (46) and the apes (48). The similar banding pattern shows the presence of homologous chromosomes. The amount of DNA present in the human is very much similar (98.4% similar) to that of apes. So, it can be concluded that man is much more related to apes than any other organism.

Note: The human shares its ancestors with the apes before seven million years ago. Both the apes and humans evolved in Africa. The humans evolved from Hominids and also by interbreeding of different hominins. The brains of early hominins were similar to chimpanzees in terms of size. As the humans started spending more time on the land rather than trees, they adopted bipedalism.