Hominini

Who Are the Hominini?

The Hominini are a special group of primates, which means they are clever animals that are very close to humans. This group includes us, the modern humans, and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos. They all belong to a bigger family called Homininae, which also includes gorillas.

A Little History

The name Hominini was first used by a scientist named Camille Arambourg in 1948. He made this name by joining two older groups together. Since then, scientists have learned a lot more about how these animals are related by looking at their genes. We now know that humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas share a more recent common ancestor with each other than with orangutans.

Family Tree

The Hominini group today has two main types: the Homo group, which includes humans, and the Pan group, which includes chimpanzees and bonobos. Even though gorillas are very close to us, they are put in their own special group. Scientists sometimes talk about these groups in different ways to help them study these amazing animals better.

Our Close Relatives

Humans and chimpanzees share about 99% of their DNA! That means we are very similar. Scientists study old bones, called fossils, to learn about our ancestors. Some of these old bones make us wonder about our family tree, but they all help us understand where we come from.