Ape

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This article is about the branch of primates which includes humans. For other uses, see Ape (disambiguation).

For an obsolete term for apes which excludes humans, see Pongidae.

For an explanation of very similar terms, see Hominidae.

Apes (Hominoidea) are a branch of Old World tailless simians native

to Africa and Southeast Asia. They are the sister group of the Old World monkeys,
together forming the catarrhine clade. They are distinguished from other primates by
a wider degree of freedom of motion at the shoulder joint as evolved by the influence
of brachiation. In traditional and non-scientific use, the term "ape" excludes humans,
and is thus not equivalent to the scientific taxon Hominoidea. There are two extant
branches of the superfamily Hominoidea: the gibbons, or lesser apes; and
the hominids, or great apes.
 The family Hylobatidae, the lesser apes, include four genera and a total of sixteen species of
gibbon, including the lar gibbon and the siamang, all native to Asia. They are highly arboreal
and bipedal on the ground. They have lighter bodies and smaller social groups than great apes.
 The family Hominidae (hominids), the great apes, includes three extant species
of orangutans and their subspecies, two extant species of gorillas and their subspecies, two
extant species of chimpanzees and their subspecies, and one extant species of humans in a
single extant subspecies.[1][a][2][3]