Similarities and Differences

         Animals and us humans are actually really similar. The animal we’re most similar to is the African ape. Almost all our organs are the same. Humans and apes both have thumbs and a nervous system. Some of our organs and systems that are different are the brain, humans have an appendix where apes do not, apes have hair all over their body and humans only have it on certain parts, the human skull is supported on top of the vertebral column and apes skulls hand forward of it, and the humans cranium is larger than the face and the ape is the opposite. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes where apes, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans have 24. Another difference we have is that apes walk on all fours whereas humans walk on two feet. We have the ability to do so many things with our hands so that we can walk and stand and cook and play sports. Kevin Hunt says that “chimpanzees have a lot more power than we do, even if we worked out 12 hours a day like they do, we still wouldn’t be nearly as strong as them”. This is because of the muscle attachment. Chimps muscles are attached to a different point than ours which makes them stronger than humans. If we were to compare any other animal with humans there are many differences such as a fish. We know that the respiratory system of a fish, from class notes and the textbook, is similar to a humans although not similar at the same time. Fish breathe from their gills where we breathe from our nose and mouth. Fish take in dissolved oxygen and take out carbon dioxide from their capillaries. Humans breathe in oxygen from their nose and exhale carbon dioxide from their mouths.