"They are the only non humans to build houses. Great apes make nests but orangutans will add a roof. That, to me, is a very primitive house. They also mate longer - if they're up to it. And they mate face to face."
Wayne Goodey, a zoologist at the University of B.C., said he found some of the traits that the authors list questionable.
"Some of the traits listed seem to me to be of dubious value, though apparently they have been used before for other analyses," he said. "I have always found the chimp/Africa-affinity data convincing, as have nearly all other scientists, but if it proves to be incorrect, then once enough data has accumulated most people will accept it. My guess is: not yet."
The theory also challenges the evolution of humans in a biogeographical context. While conventional science teaches that humans evolved from apes in Africa, Grehan said they believe orang-like apes lived in not only Asia, but Africa and Europe, as well, about 13 million years ago. Grehan even argues Lucy - the 3.2-million-year-old ape skeleton that is the world's most famous early human ancestor - looks more like an orangutan.
Schwartz, a professor in the departments of anthropology and history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh, first raised the argument in 1984 and then later documented the theory in his book, The Red Ape.
A list of the traits that Schwartz and Grehan suggest humans share with orangutans, as well as a copy of the study, can be found at sciencebuff.org.
The scientists conclude that humans and orangutans share a common ancestor that excludes the extant African apes.
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