Pongidae , or the pongids is an obsolete primate taxon containing

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

s and

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...

s. By this definition pongids were also called "great apes". This taxon is not used today but is of historical significance. The great apes are currently classified as

Hominidae The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...

. This entry addresses the old usage of pongid. The words "Pongidae" and "pongids" are sometimes used informally for the

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

containing

s and their extinct fossil relations. For this usage the currently most widely accepted name is Ponginae (or informally Asian hominids or pongines), the orangutan subfamily of the Hominidae or hominids. In current hominid taxonomy there is no “pongid” taxon. The orangutan taxon is now known to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...

to other (African) hominids. The orangutans are the only surviving species of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Ponginae, which genetically diverged from the other hominids (

s and

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

s) between 19.3 and 15.7 million years ago. The subfamilies split somewhat later. The corresponding

crown group In phylogenetics, the crown group or crown assemblage is a collection of species composed of the living representatives of the collection, the most recent common ancestor of the collection, and all descendants of the most recent common ancestor ...

for this taxon is

Distinction of great apes (formerly pongids) to hominins

Skull

The great ape (formerly pongid) skull contains the following

features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software ite ...

that are absent or less pronounced in humans: * a sulcus behind the brow ridges *

prognathism Prognathism, also called Habsburg jaw or Habsburgs' jaw primarily in the context of its prevalence amongst members of the House of Habsburg, is a positional relationship of the mandible or maxilla to the skeletal base where either of the jaws pr ...

* a protruding occipital region * large, bony eye sockets * a large nasal opening * constriction just behind the orbital region * stout facial bones * a

diastema A diastema (plural diastemata, from Greek διάστημα, space) is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. More colloquially, the condition ...

* a simian shelf * a more larger, well pronounced

brow ridge The brow ridge, or supraorbital ridge known as superciliary arch in medicine, is a bony ridge located above the eye sockets of all primates. In humans, the eyebrows are located on their lower margin. Structure The brow ridge is a nodule or crest ...

Adaptations for locomotion

The following great ape (formerly Pongid) adaptations are for arboreal and knuckle walking locomotion and are not found in humans: !! Human , - , Arms are longer than the legs , , Arms are shorter than the legs , - ,

Scapula The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on eith ...

has an orientation for supporting the body weight beneath the arms , , Scapula is oriented for holding the arms by the side , - , Digits are long and curved for grasping branches , , Digits are shorter and straight , - ,

Pelvis The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

is shaped to support the legs and trunk in the bent-over posture , , Pelvis is shaped to support the legs and trunk in a vertical position , - , Knees do not lock the legs , , Knees lock the legs straight to minimize the expenditure of energy when standing , - , Pelvis is relatively large , , Pelvis is much shorter and bowl-shaped , - , Iliac pillar is elongated , , The iliac crest is oriented more to the side and slanted

Similarity to hominins

The

australopithecines Australopithecina or Hominina is a subtribe in the tribe Hominini. The members of the subtribe are generally ''Australopithecus'' ( cladistically including the genera ''Homo'', '' Paranthropus'', and ''Kenyanthropus''), and it typically include ...

show intermediate character states between great apes (formerly pongids) and humans, with ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor ...

'' (formerly '' Pithecanthropus'') intermediate between australopithecines and humans. Members of the genus ''

Homo ''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus '' Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely rela ...

'' share many key features with anatomically modern man.

References

Science and faith: The hominid fossil record

External links