2006-09-10 09:52:05 · 11 answers · asked by Lekendrick B 1 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
They aren't. Unless you're swimming in the ocean. Then a whale might possibly be closer to you physically than a gorilla. But otherwise gorillas are our closest evolutionary relative.
2006-09-10 09:52:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Whales, dolphins, seals and other sea mammals all produce tears and have limited body hair like humans. Gorillas and other apes have thick body hair and produce no tears also apes have body fat only on their stomachs where as humans can have it spread out through their bodies. This has led some scientists to propose that our ancestor was actually a semi-aquatic ape rather than an ape like Chimpanzees. The fact that humans seem more disposed towards keeping warm with body fat than with body hair would support this. I believe the discovery channel did something on this.
2006-09-10 23:09:02 · answer #2 · answered by West Coast Nomad 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
If you do some research, Humans are considered mammals just like whales. That is one factor that makes them closer to Humans and not Gorillas.
2006-09-10 19:54:09 · answer #3 · answered by Wednesday 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I believe you are mistaken..
Whales are not genetically closer to humans than gorillas..
Where did you get that information ?
2006-09-11 01:04:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It seems as if everyone is failing to notice the inherent flaw in your question - it is incomplete! How are whales closer to humans {{{than what??}}}, and gorillas are not.
Please restate in semantically valid terms.
2006-09-11 00:57:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
gorillas are closer than whales
2006-09-10 16:53:15 · answer #6 · answered by whitesilk 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I think you are confused.
The apes as a greater familly(of which humans are part) are all more closely related to one another than to sea going mammals.
Interestingly enough, the apes that have been taught to use sign language and to converse with humans sometimes ask complicated questions like, "Why do we die?"
Asking existential questions like that, it seems clear they aren't very far removed from us.
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laughing at wednesday who apparently doesn't realize apes are mammals... lol
2006-09-10 16:57:30 · answer #7 · answered by special-chemical-x 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm not quite sure. sometimes when an animal looks like it was an early ancestor of a current species, it isn't. Like the decendets of whales looked like alligators.
2006-09-10 16:54:05 · answer #8 · answered by Mini Cheeze 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I have to go with dark angel. That is by far the best answer. and I lol too at Wednesday.
2006-09-10 23:36:18 · answer #9 · answered by quarterton2001 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You made this up. Not true.
2006-09-10 16:53:39 · answer #10 · answered by IMHO 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋