ABSTRACT
Even a few decades ago, the evolutionary line between humans and apes was drawn as far back as 20-25 million years. Since the 1970s, however, biomolecular research has closed the gap to our chimpanzee cousins to between 5 and 7 million years. We stand between 7 and 10 million years from our second cousins the gorillas, and 10 to 13 million years from our third cousins the orang-utans, while some 20 million years separates us from the gibbons.
