# If they wanted to is modern science capable of creating a viable, healthy man-chimp hybrid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088 "2016-08-07T22:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 8, 2016, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/21 "2016-08-08T13:55:26Z")
There are different ways to measure genetic distance, but if take a simplified model and just use “years since the lines split”, then look at [camels and llamas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camelid), which split ~10MYA. It’s probably more accurate to measure “number of generations”, especially since apes are slow breeders, but this just makes the numbers look even more in favor of hybridization between ape species. It would be interesting to see what the result of attempted gorilla/chimp hybrids would be. A null result wouldn’t tell us for certain that chimp/human hybrids was impossible, but a successful interbreeding would be highly suggestive that such hybrids were possible. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/22 "2016-08-08T15:00:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You should see them carry 100 lb loads up a mountain! 😉 Plus, you can use it to haul coal AND detect mine gasses at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/23 "2016-08-08T16:02:46Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > …because … kool!!1!!.. Neat typo, if that’s what it is, if it’s not, congrats. I suggest "kool!!!11!!! since humanzanity obviously goes to 11. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/24 "2016-08-08T16:07:17Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > And today I learned that a domestic canary/goldfinch hybrid singing bird is called a mule. And where were you for the sadly stunted current thread **Any muleteers out there…?** ([http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800641](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=800641)) Tons more in cites on mules. And to think _I_ started out on the topic researching a pair of women’s shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/25 "2016-08-08T20:52:03Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > Heh. I’ve had an idea for a SciFi story along these lines. Suppose there’s a future where where pro sports teams (maybe NOT Football) have limits on how many gene manipulated players they can have or what changes are acceptable… 🙂 ‘Mickey Mouse Olympics’ Omni Magazine short story reproduced below [http://www.williamflew.com/omni9a.html](http://www.williamflew.com/omni9a.html) ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/26 "2016-08-08T21:02:25Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Any mating attempts would have to involve a wild caught chimpanzee. But chimps are big aggressive animals. While people probably adopted orphan chimps, they would be killed once they became large and aggressive enough to pose a danger. Someone having close contact with an adult chimp would be historically rare, to say the least. > > But even for captive chimps, it would involve restraining a female chimp, which would be incredibly risky in its own right, or else a woman deciding to have sex with a captive male chimp that might well rip her head off. > > Neither scenario is likely to have ever occurred. Humans have sex with \*domesticated \*animals, which chimps are not. I have \*never \*heard of an account of a human having sex with a wild animal of any type. So it is clearly a rare event. Added to that, chimps were very rarely taken and kept alive prior to the 19th century, which makes the likelihood even rarer. The fact that they are strong, aggressive and unpredictable animals makes the likelihood that it has ever been tried miniscule. > > If you can find any evidence that such a mating has occurred even once in history I would like to see it. Chimpanzees are a bit too aggressive, sure, but what about Bonobos? From what I heard on 60 Minutes (terrible source, I know, but it’s in my recent memory), they are just as closely related to humans, and comparatively docile in nature. Bonobo sexual activity patterns are fairly different too. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/27 "2016-08-08T21:27:36Z")
Someone wants a unstoppable, merciless humanzee army to do their bidding… ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/28 "2016-08-09T00:19:07Z")
Can’t resist. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBd32vg3As](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBd32vg3As) Monkey men just go wild and bad. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/29 "2016-08-09T00:59:37Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Neat typo, if that’s what it is, if it’s not, congrats. I suggest "kool!!!11!!! since humanzanity obviously goes to 11. Not a typo. The exclamation mark is made by holding down the shift key and the 1. The 1 in a string of exclamation marks mimics someone typing so excitedly that his finger keeps coming off the shift key. It is often done for satiric effect lately. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/30 "2016-08-09T23:12:23Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Would a human male try to have intercourse with a female chimp? nm. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/31 "2016-08-10T22:13:10Z")
I don’t know about chimps, but I have heard of humans pimping out a shaved female orangutan. Which has all of the same points against it as sex with chimps, but that apparently doesn’t stop it from happening. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/32 "2016-08-11T14:09:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know about chimps, but I have heard of humans pimping out a shaved female orangutan. Which has all of the same points against it as sex with chimps, but that apparently doesn’t stop it from happening. Yes, I’ve seen that, too. Generally in threads on this very topic! 🙂 But, Orangs are mostly solitary animals, whereas chimps are social animals that live in strictly hierarchical groups. Orangs can be aggressive, especially males, but a female orang raised by humans would not be aggressive in the same way a chimp would. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/33 "2016-08-11T22:04:08Z")
> [@TSBG](#): > > Would a human male try to have intercourse with a female chimp? Again, Big 10 College Football? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/34 "2016-08-11T22:57:26Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > If you can find any evidence that such a mating has occurred even once in history I would like to see it. Goodall writes about just such an incident in which a female staff member is raped by an orangutan. It is fairly easy to Google, click on the image of the written passage to enlarge it: [https://miskatonicbooks.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-horror-of-ape-rape/](https://miskatonicbooks.wordpress.com/2011/10/22/the-horror-of-ape-rape/) Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/35 "2016-08-12T00:11:59Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Not a typo. The exclamation mark is made by holding down the shift key and the 1. The 1 in a string of exclamation marks mimics someone typing so excitedly that his finger keeps coming off the shift key. It is often done for satiric effect lately. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/36 "2016-08-12T00:14:49Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Huh. It was a hot meme between March and August of 2009. Didn’t last long, they just don’t make memes like they used to. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/37 "2016-08-12T00:15:51Z")
We’re talking about orangs here an no mention of Trump? You guys are slipping. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/38 "2016-08-12T01:44:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > We’re talking about orangs here an no mention of Trump? You guys are slipping. GQ, dude, GQ. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088/39 "2016-08-12T01:53:56Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > GQ, dude, GQ. Oh well. Go ahead and slap me Colibri. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-they-wanted-to-is-modern-science-capable-of-creating-a-viable-healthy-man-chimp-hybrid/762088.md?page=1)