The latest thinking about the taxonomy of great apes

Abstract

The orangutan (genus Pongo), gorilla (genus Gorilla) and chimpanzee (genus Pan), constituting the great apes, were once thought of as a homogeneous family Pongidae, related to but distinct from our own family Hominidae. It is now known, however, that chimpanzees are more closely related to humans (genus Homo) than they are to other great apes, while gorillas are more closely related to the chimpanzee–human duo than they are to orangutans. The family Pongidae has been abolished and all great apes appear in the family Hominidae, with two subfamilies: Ponginae for the orangutan and Homininae for the gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. This paper provides an up-to-date description of our understanding of the taxonomy of great apes at the time of writing. Furthermore, because non-human great apes are very like humans, not only genetically and anatomically but also cognitively, there is a responsibility to afford these species dignity and a degree of freedom of choice in their surroundings and husbandry processes if they are kept in zoos.