lydia+Schuldt

Human and Chimpanzee Relationships Lydia Schuldt

My guiding question is, "How are chimpanzees more closely related to humans than all other non-human primates?"

I am interested in this topic because I'm an anthropology major and recently in my physical anthropology class we learned that chimpanzees are humans closest relatives.


 * Sources:**

1. Sapolsky, Robert. (2006). "Annual Editions: Physical Anthropology." Angeloni, Elvio (Ed.) "The 2% Difference." (p.36-37) New York: Contemporary Learning Series.

2. Batten, Don. "Human/chimp DNA Similarity - Evidence for Evolutionary Relationship?" Latest Articles. 28 Apr. 2005. .

3. Larsen, Clark. (2008). "Our Origins". New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

4. Melville, Kate. "More Evidence Of Our Close Relationship With Chimps." Science News, Research And Discussion. 24 Jan. 2006. .

5. Silverstein, Julie. "Human's Closest Relatives." Thesis. NYU, 1997. Student Papers NYU. 20 Dec. 1997. < .


 * Credibility and Validity of the Sources:**

1. This is not a scholarly source but it is filled with a lot of important information. It is a book from my anthropology class that is filled with many different articles relating to the subject. I am looking directly at one in particular written by Robert Sapolsky that will be helpful in my essay. The essay that seems the most relevant is called, "The 2% Difference." It shows how chimps and humans can be so different even though our DNA only has about 2% differences. This is a very reliable source because it shows the exact differences we have with chimps and also how similar we actually are as well. I will use a lot of this information in my essay by quoting some facts and developing my own ideas through them.

2. This source is not a scholarly source. It is a brief article that also has bullets on the similarities between humans and chimpanzees based on their DNA. The author is Dave Ranger and he posted it on a blog. I think this source has a lot of true information but I don't feel it is very reliable. I think I will use it to get ideas for my paper but I won't actually put the information directly into my essay. This source is very relevant to my research and is exactly the information I am looking for. It provides just some basic information about the DNA similarities which will be very useful in my thinking.

3. This is a scholarly source. It is a textbook for my anthropology class written by Clark Spencer Larsen who is a professor from Ohio State University. I know this will be relevant in my research because I have already used the book before in my anthropology class and the information in it will be useful in many ways. The entire textbook is based off of humans and non-human primates. The information I will use in this is from a wide variety of chapters that talk about humans, non-human primates and the similarities between them all. I will use a lot of the facts from this book in my paper and it gives a great overview about chimpanzees and their relations to all other primates.

4. This is not a scholarly source but a useful website I found while browsing the internet. In 2006 Kate Melville posted this online and it seems like a reliable source because the information is true and because of the sources she used. This source will be relevant in my research because it talks about human and chimpanzee relationships and all the theories that go along with it. The main information it provides is a lot more evidence of our relationship with chimpanzees. I am going to use a lot of these theories in my essay and it shows great examples so I will have a better understanding. Also, this website is easy for me to understand because it focuses on more of the idea and not the science behind it.

5. This is not a scholarly source but is very similar to one. It is a thesis paper from 1997 that was written by a graduate student from NYU name Julie Silverstein. It is a very reliable source because she uses about 40 or 50 different sources and uses many graphs and quoted examples in her paper. I can tell just by glancing at the paper that it is quality work and she put a lot of time into it. This source is very relevant to my research because the topic is the same exact topic as mine. It provides almost all the information I will need and I will get many ideas from it for my paper. The only part that I don't like about this essay and won't use are all the very confusing math and science equations. I am going to avoid those and not focus on the scientific similarities as much but more about basic DNA and mental and physical similarities. This is one of my favorite sources I found and I am going to gain a lot of information from it.


 * Summary**

Source 1: Physical Anthropology: Annual Editions "The 2% Difference."- This article says that we know that we are 98% similar to Chimpanzees but it wants to answer the question, "How can we be so different?"

What you really seem to be saying here is that overall chimps and humans share about 98% of the same DNA, but when you look at it more closely it is based off of the sheer number of neurons that make humans and chimps so different from each other.

I agree with you about how the genetic changes arise by insertion, deletion or mutation because these genetic variations change over time through evolution.

What I want to know more about now after reading you is what are some of the main genetic differences between the 2 primates? This article talks a lot about the genetic differences, but I am curious to know which genetic variations create the huge differences.

Source 2: Human/Chimp DNA Similarity- This blog has a lot of facts about the similarities and a ton of "What if?" questions. It gives a lot of examples and shows how just a small percentage change in the similarity would make humans and chimps so much more different.

What you really mean to be saying here is that if chimps and humans were 96% similar instead of about 98% similar they would be so much more different then they are now and humans probably would have evolved from another primate other than chimpanzees.

What do you mean when you say,"Similarity (‘homology’) is not evidence for common ancestry (evolution) as against a common designer (creation)?"

What I want to know more about after reading you is if humans and chimps had over 99% the same DNA how much more similar would they actually be based on their brain and appearance?

Source 3: Our Origins- This textbook has a ton of information all about all primates and focuses a lot on the origin of humans and chimpanzees.

I think you're making several main points. Let me see if I've got them straight. First you say that monkeys and chimpanzees display a lot of the same similarities such as physical appearance, arborealism and having similar lifestyles. Then you say humans and chimpanzees are very different in their brain and appearance. And finally, you go on to say even though chimps and monkeys seem so much more similar; based on the DNA it is proven that chimps are more closely related to humans then monkeys.

I agree with you about how chimpanzees and humans employ many of the same facial expressions and body movements because when observing chimps at the zoo for extra credit for my anthropology class I really noticed how similar they act and how many different expressions they have.

What I'm thinking about now after reading you is how much hominids must have looked like apes thousands of years ago before we evolved into what we are now.