Humans are Not Apes

(c) 2025 by Barton Paul Levenson

1. Introduction.

Humans are not apes. Usually, when I say this, I am immediately accused of being a creationist or a "human chauvinist." Neither is correct. My thesis is that humans have enough important differences from great apes as to rate a different taxon. The "cladists" prefer that descent alone should generate taxa. There is something to be said for that, but I maintain that anatomy, psychology, and behavior should also be considered.

It is clear that humans are closely related to apes. But they are not the same thing. Similarly, a dog is not a wolf. A duck is not a chicken. An alligator is not a crocodile. Very similar, shared ancestors, yes. The same thing, no.

2. A List of Differences.

Here is a list of differences between humans and apes. I would say #7 is the most important, but all eleven points of difference are meaningful.

1. All great apes have 48 chromosomes. Humans have 46.
2. Apes are knuckle-walkers or brachiators. Humans are obligate bipeds.
3. Apes can't talk. Humans have extensive verbal languages. (Yes, I know about Koko and Washoe.)
4. Ape fur is thick. Human fur is so fine humans appear to be hairless, except in a few areas.
5. Apes have pronounced muzzles. Humans have flat faces.
6. Apes have an estrus cycle. Humans have a menstrual cycle. (No, they are not the same thing.)
7. Apes score 2-3 in Jerison's Encephalization Quotient. Humans score 7.22.
8. Apes will sometimes use a twig or some leaves as tools. Humans use fire and stone tools (plus all the technology created since then.)
9. Apes rarely live to age 50 (a few have). Humans commonly live into their 80s.
10. Apes use dorso-ventral copulation. Humans use ventro-ventral copulation (usually).
11. Apes are immensely strong; roughly three times greater than human in chimpanzees, four times in orangutans, and twelve times in gorillas.
12. Ape infants mature fairly quickly. Human infants are dependent longer.
13. Apes do not have cultural transmission of social values through generations. Humans do.

3. Caveat.

I am not a biologist. I have a longstanding interest in evolutionary biology and primatology, and have taken one physical anthropology course, but that's not the same as having studied it in depth. Professional biologists may have reasons why the thesis outlined here is wrong. But until I see a meaningful argument to that effect, I will continue to maintain that humans and apes are two different types of animal. Pigeonholing me as a creationist is not a meaningful argument.