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Chimps Belong in Human Genus?
Bradley Chapman writes "I found this interesting story from Discovery News about our ties with chimpanzees. Excerpts: 'Chimpanzees share 99.4 percent of functionally important DNA with humans and belong in our genus, Homo, according to a recent genetic study.
Scientists analyzed 97 human genes, along with comparable sequences from chimps, gorillas, orangutans and Old World monkeys (a group that includes baboons and macaques). The researchers then took the DNA data and estimated genetic evolution over time. They determined that humans and chimps shared a common ancestor between 4 and 7 million years ago. That ancestor diverged from gorillas 6 to 7 million years ago.'" Genus is the next step up from species, if you recall your taxonomy. Humans are the only living species in genus homo, currently.
> The repulicans will like this... Another 50 million that pay taxes
Flamebait, Democrats are more likely to raise/create new taxes. Well, at least according to the ideologies of the parties. In reality, they all raise taxes too much and/or don't lower them enough.
Well I'm so glad that we narrowed it down to oh, say, several million years ago give or take that we "evolved" and became slightly different than a chimpanzee. Shit, even a cow must somehow share a genetic link to us in the way back past, right? You know, just after the Big Bang (well, several billion years after it of course) when all was warm, and life got created in a single instance, spawning a plethora of life-forms.
So I guess we shouldn't be eating any more monkey brain, those damn African savages! The horror! Won't somebody PLEASE think of the children!!
Oh, by the way, put down that McDonald's hamburger, you're eating your relatives!!!
And don't think plants are exempt!! They're just another offshoot of "life", and we certainly wouldn't want to be extinguishing a life-form, now would we?