Genus Pan (Noun)
Meaning
Chimpanzees; more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongids.
Classification
Nouns denoting animals.
Examples
- Chimpanzees and humans share a common ancestor in the genus Pan, but they had diverged as distinct species at least 4-6 million years ago.
- The genus Pan is part of the family Hominidae, which also includes gorillas and orangutans.
- Chimpanzees are not more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongids, but they share similarities with the genus Pan in brain anatomy.
- Morphological and molecular analyses confirm that the genus Pan is more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongids.
- Studies suggest that the most recent common ancestor between the genus Pan and humans lived around 6-8 million years ago in Africa.