Apes are a superfamily of primates that include gibbons, siamangs, gorillas, chimpanzees and , orangutans.No apes have tails. Most have long arms and broad chests. All apes but gorillas are very good at climbing trees. Most apes are omnivores .
Monkeys are not apes.The chimpanzee is the animal that is closest to people genetically; people and chimps have very similar DNA (about 98% of human and chimpanzee DNA is identical). Genetic studies show that chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor.Early apes evolved during the Miocene epoch (7-26 million years ago). Fossils of these early apes have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe.A group of apes can be called a troop or a shrewdness
CLASSIFICATION
Apes are classified in the Linnean System as follows:
- Kingdom Animalia (all animals)
- Phylum Chordata
- Subphylum Vertebrata (animals with backbones)
- Class Mammalia (warm-blooded animals with fur and mammary glands)
- Order Primates (which is comprised of 11 families, including lemurs, monkeys, marmosets, lesser apes, great apes, and humans)
- Suborder Haplorrhini
- Superfamily Homonoidea
- Family Hylobatidae (meaning "tree dweller" - the lesser apes, including gibbons and siamangs)
- Genus Hylobates (with 9 species of gibbons; since gibbons do not cross bodies of water, major rivers isolate each of the species.)
- Species H. agilus - the agile gibbon (or dark-handed gibbon)
- Species H. concolor - the crested gibbon (or the black gibbon or the white-cheeked gibbon)
- Species H. hoolock - the Hoolock gibbon
- Species H. klossii - Kloss' gibbon (or Mentawai gibbon)
- Species H. lar - the white-handed gibbon or the common gibbon (consisting of three subspecies)
- Species H. moloch - the Javan gibbon (or silvery gibbon, or white-browed gibbon)
- Species H. muelleri - the Bornean gibbon
- Species H. pileatus - the pileated gibbon (or capped gibbon)
- Species H. syndactylus - the Siamang (the biggest gibbon, with dark fur, an inflatable throat sac, and a very loud call)
