The Hominidae (anglicized Hominids, also known as great apes) form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees, gorillas, humans and orangutans.
A number of known extinct genera are grouped with humans in the Hominina subtribe, others with orangutans in the Ponginae subtribe. The most recent common ancestor of the Hominidae lived some 13 million years ago, when the ancestors of the orangutans speciated from the ancestors of the ...
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The Hominidae (anglicized Hominids, also known as great apes) form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees, gorillas, humans and orangutans.
A number of known extinct genera are grouped with humans in the Hominina subtribe, others with orangutans in the Ponginae subtribe. The most recent common ancestor of the Hominidae lived some 13 million years ago, when the ancestors of the orangutans speciated from the ancestors of the other three genera. The ancestors of the Hominidae family in turn speciated from those of the Hylobatidae family some 15 million years ago.
On July 19, 2001, a 7 million year old fossil skull nicknamed "Toumaï" by its discoverers, and formally classified as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, was discovered in Chad and is possibly the earliest hominine fossil ever found. In addition to its age, Toumaï, unlike the 3 – 4 million year younger gracile australopithecine dubbed "Lucy", has a relatively flat face without the prominent snout seen on other pre...
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