# How do humans anatomically differ from other great apes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476 "2018-11-13T20:17:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/21 "2018-11-16T07:20:40Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > They have to be sophisticated enough to get a better chance of passing on their genes by securing food reliably or defending against predators using tools. Nope. They just have to not be a hindrance to passing them on. They could be neutral. > [@](#): > > There are not many items in the chimp toolbox. Prodding termites out a hole with a twig or cracking a nut with a rock really don’t cut it. Cut it just as well as us, in evolutionary terms i.e chimps are still around. Many “more sophisticated” tool users are not. “Sophistication” of tool use is therefore not an indicator of evolutionary fitness. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/22 "2018-11-16T08:58:46Z")
Human women have a more curved lower back than other female primates to aid in carrying the weight of a pregnancy while bipedal. It’s something that goes back to our first bipedal ancestors, much older than modern humans. It can also be used to identify a fossil species as having been bipedal even if all you have are the relevant vertebrae. Human eyes are proportionally bigger and wider, and pigmented differently with easily visible “whites” (which aren’t white in other primates). This is [suspected](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_eye_hypothesis) to be an adaption that lets humans easily tell where other humans are looking; interestingly the other animal that can tell where a human is looking are dogs (but not wolves). > [@Chronos](#): > > Our muscles are attached at different points, giving us different leverage. That’s the main reason why the other great apes are all stronger than us, but the human setup is another reason why we’re better than them at throwing things. It also gives us more precision and aids with our superior endurance. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/23 "2018-11-16T09:32:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Nope. They just have to not be a hindrance to passing them on. They could be neutral. > Cut it just as well as us, in evolutionary terms i.e chimps are still around. Many “more sophisticated” tool users are not. “Sophistication” of tool use is therefore not an indicator of evolutionary fitness. The limited too use of chimps is fine for a food rich environment like a jungle. But chimps are not adapted to finding food on the plains where tools that can be used to hunt game or as weapons and the mastery of that flickering flame to cook and ward off predators is a definite advantage. The upright posture of humans as well making humans able to run, give height to they can see game from afar so they can be stalked. Chimps are jungle foragers, they don’t do much hunting. Humans are well adapted to alfresco BBQ opportunities.😃 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/24 "2018-11-16T10:37:43Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > Chimps are jungle foragers, they don’t do much hunting. They do enough to drive their favoured prey species [close to local extinction](http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150728-chimps-nearly-wiped-out-monkeys)… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/25 "2018-11-16T13:22:34Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > The upright posture of humans as well making humans able to run… Chimps can run. You don’t need upright posture to run. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/26 "2018-11-16T14:10:22Z")
Chimps are about as good at running as humans are at swinging from trees. Two species that are anatomically adapted to quite different environments. Of course there are always exceptions, like this guy. :D ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/27 "2018-11-16T14:19:27Z")
Human females have permanent breasts that are proportionally much larger than other primates. So the question to ponder is why women have breasts… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/28 "2018-11-16T14:39:17Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > Chimps are about as good at running as humans are at swinging from trees. This is GQ. You don’t need an upright posture to run. Our upright posture allows us to cover long distances more efficiently, but we don’t need it to run. You probably could not outrun a chimp if you were starting near the same place-- that is, a chimp can probably outsprint you over a short distance. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/29 "2018-11-16T14:48:12Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > Human females have permanent breasts that are proportionally much larger than other primates. > > So the question to ponder is why women have breasts… As per Desmond Morris, it’s sexual display, now that the buttocks are relatively less prominent due to our upright walking habit. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/30 "2018-11-16T20:37:32Z")
Human feet are very different from those of the great apes. Very good for standing upright, walking a lot and peering over the tall grass of the Savannah. [https://slideplayer.com/slide/7454432/](https://slideplayer.com/slide/7454432/) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476/31 "2018-11-16T20:59:26Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > As per Desmond Morris, it’s sexual display, now that the buttocks are relatively less prominent due to our upright walking habit. That doesn’t really make sense, at least on the surface. Human buttocks are much larger than other primates’ buttocks _because_ of upright walking. So you’d expect them to be more prominent. However, there’s a effect called [sexual swelling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_swelling) that seems to be common among primates, but has been lost in humans, probably because of upright walking. So large breasts may substitute for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-humans-anatomically-differ-from-other-great-apes/824476.md?page=1)