(Human - Chimpanzee) = 0.02
If humans share about 98 percent of our genetic makeup with chimps, then why are we so far apart in terms of behavior, agility, cognitive skills, etc.?
What is it that makes up The Last 2 percent?
The Latest on Human-Chimpanzee Genetic Comparisons, Part 2 (of 2)
Scientific advance continues to demonstrate that humans and chimpanzees do display significant genetic differences. These differences relate to how the genes are used, not the sequence differences in those genes. The two species differ genetically where it counts. Therefore, to say that a human is 99% chimpanzee is a meaningless statement.
Neanderthal Children Grew Up Fast
Scientists found differences in the duration of tooth growth in the Neanderthal when compared to modern humans, with the former showing shorter times in most cases. This faster growth resulted in a more advanced pattern of dental development than in fossil and living members of our own species (Homo sapiens).
The Scladina juvenile, which appears to be developmentally similar to a 10-12 year old human, was estimated to be in fact about 8 years old at death. This pattern of development appears to be intermediate between early members of our genus (e.g., Homo erectus) and living people, suggesting that the characteristically slow development and long childhood is a recent condition unique to our own species.
Like Humans, Monkey See, Monkey Plan, Monkey Do
How many times a day do you grab objects such as a pencil or a cup? We perform these tasks without thinking, however the motor planning necessary to grasp an object is quite complex. The way human adults grasp objects is typically influenced more by their knowledge of what they intend to do with the objects than the objects' immediate appearance. Psychologists call this the “end-state comfort effect,” when we adopt initially unusual, and perhaps uncomfortable, postures to make it easier to actually use an object.
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This research is the first to provide evidence for more sophisticated motor planning than has previously been attributed to a nonhuman species. The authors suggest that formulating relatively long-term motor plans is a necessary but not sufficient condition for tool use. “Our results may be taken to suggest that the reason tamarins don’t use tools in the wild is not that they lack the ability to plan ahead, but rather that the scope of their planning is limited,” say the researchers.
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