# Are humans great apes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 11, 2000, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722 "2000-03-11T17:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![penny-wise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/278dde/32.png) [@penny-wise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penny-wise)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2000, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/21 "2000-03-14T15:07:00Z")
Personally, I believe we are all descended from cats… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/22 "2000-03-15T01:51:00Z")
Well, Wolverine from the _X-Men_ comics might be. He has retractable claws, after all. 😉 I’d still like to know when this very-recent change in primate taxonomy took place, and whether it’s “official” or merely “alternative”. ---
**Author:** ![CalifBoomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CalifBoomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalifBoomer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/23 "2000-03-15T02:10:00Z")
That’s just great, David----you link to a SD article written by…DAVID!! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/24 "2000-03-15T02:13:00Z")
I post links to material I’ve written all the time. Such as this one: [http://www.stella-database.com](http://www.stella-database.com)😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/25 "2000-03-15T02:15:00Z")
Er, that should read [http://www.stellar-database.com](http://www.stellar-database.com) . With an “r” in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/26 "2000-03-15T02:55:00Z")
CalifBoomer complained: > [@](#): > > That’s just great, David----you link to a SD article written by…DAVID!! Yes, and? I’m not allowed to link to anything I’ve written before? I have to type it all in again every single time? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/27 "2000-03-15T04:36:00Z")
Califboomer, you said > [@](#): > > That’s just great, David----you link to a SD article written by…DAVID!! (apparently) just as though you think there’s something WRONG with that. At any rate, the post had a somewhat accusatory tone. I presume that from your standpoint, you were witnessing DavidB putting forth his article as some sort of Authoritative Last Word on the subject, perhaps even stealthily assuming a mantle of expertise to which he is not entitled. Feel free to correct me if this presumption is in error. Granting myself a presumption that it is not, I crave your indulgence with the following: While I’m not prepared to judge as to how long you have spent lurking here (and hence, your familiarity with some of the . . . patterns of arguments that develop when the subject of evolution is discussed), your registration date **and** the fact that you wrote this particular post in the first place tends to suggest that you haven’t encountered Pashley’s question before on this message board. Well, sir, the plain fact is that it has been asked many, many times, here and elsewhere, and another plain fact is that there _is_ a real answer. Those who have been reading this message board for some months have seen the exchange several times, and the answer is always the same. DavidB is to be congratulated for having the resourcefulness to post a link that allowed him to answer the question _yet again_, while still saving himself the drudgery of having to type it out all over again. You may be objecting to the fact that he is quoting himself, but a bit of research into the archives of the Great Debates will yield the insight that a poster who supports his position solely with cut and paste compositions consisting of the work of _other_ people wins himself few plaudits as a debater. David could just as easily have posted his link to a different place where essentially the same answer would have been found, but instead he sent Pashley to a work of his own, a commendable act. Now, I’m going to announce that I have written this post over a period of two hours (off-line and in my word processor), while cooking and eating dinner with my family. So it would behoove me to check the thread and find out if my response to Califboomer is already obsolete. I’m _still_ going to post it, regardless of what I find out, but I felt that if I turned out to b a bit slow out of the box, an explanation might be in order. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2000, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722/28 "2000-03-15T04:44:00Z")
**tracer** wrote: > [@](#): > > Are humans great apes? Matter of fact, we’re fuckin-ay fantastic apes. Can I get a witness? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-humans-great-apes/17722.md?page=1)