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Explain the family tree of the extant species. |
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Answer» 1. The super family Hominoidea branched into Hominidae and Hylobatidae families. The species of the respective families are called Hominids and Hylobatids. The Hominids that is, Humans, Chimpanzees and Bonobos, Gorillas and Orangutans, diverged away from the Hylobatids that is Gibbons. 2. The Hominidae family branched into Homininae and Ponginae subfamilies. The species of the respective subfamilies were called Hominines and Pongines. The Hominines that is, humans, Chimpanzees, and Bonobos and Gorillas diverged away from the Pongines that is the Orangutans. 3. The Homininae subfamily branched into Hominini and Gorillini tribes. Humans, Chimpanzees, and bonobos branched away from the Gorillas. 4. The Hominini tribe branched into Genus Homo and Genus Pan. That is, the ancestral human species branched away from the Chimpanzees and the Bonobos. As such, Chimpanzees and Bonobos are the closest relatives of the Humans. The evolution of genus Homo from the super family Hominoidea took about 30 million years. The emergence of genus Homo brought human-like creatures on the earth’s surface about 5.6 million years ago. |
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