READING ASSIGNMENT

In the 1700s, zoologist Carolus Linnaeus made a big leap for science. He set up an animal classification system. He grouped animals with similar features together. He depended mainly on human observation to do this. He did not have the tools we have now. Today, scientists use special technologies to find hidden similarities among animals. For example, they found that chimpanzees are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas.

In fact, we and the chimps share an ape ancestor that lived millions of years ago! Chimps are part of a group called the great African apes. Gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans are part of this group, too. Linnaeus placed these apes in one group and us in a different one, all by ourselves. However, new research has changed things. The great African apes have joined us as part of one family— the hominids. This was a big leap for science. As science continues to advance, the way we classify all the world’s animals will continue to change, too.