Homininae
Gorilla
Pan (chimpanzees)
Homo (humans)
Paranthropus †
Australopithecus †
Sahelanthropus †
Ardipithecus †
Kenyanthropus †
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Homininae is a subfamily of
Hominidae, including
Homo sapiens and some extinct relatives, as well as the
gorillas and the
chimpanzees. It comprises all those
hominids, such as
Australopithecus, that arose after the split from the other
great apes (of which
orangutans are the only surviving group).
As of 1980, the family Hominidae contained only
humans, with the
great apes in the family Pongidae. Discoveries led to a revision of classification, with the great apes (now
Ponginae) and humans (Homininae) united in Hominidae. But further discoveries indicated that
gorillas and
chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than they are to orangutans, hence their current placement in Homininae. See the
history of hominoid taxonomy for the details of this change.
