Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- proper n. A taxonomic superfamily within the parvorder Catarrhini — the great apes etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- proper n. A superfamily of mammals including anthropoid apes and human beings.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. anthropoid apes and human beings
Etymologies
Examples
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We have fairly good evidence that spellcheck was designed by a peculiar species of verbalizing Hominoidea.
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Post-conflict social events in wild mountain gorillas (Mammalia, Hominoidea) .1.
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Some use it to describe all members of the Hominoidea superfamily.
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An ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates.
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If it's written more generally, well, humans are of the order Primates (primates), the superfamily Hominoidea (apes), and the family Hominidae (great apes).
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“Ape”, as far as I know, is used ambiguously to refer to Hominoidea species, though often irrationally excluding humans, and also as a distinct name for primates sharing a number of characteristics with each other, some of which are lacking in the Homo genus.
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A hominin is a member of the tribe Hominini, a hominine is a member of the subfamily Homininae, a hominid is a member of the family Hominidae, and a hominoid is a member of the superfamily Hominoidea.
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Edit hominin Hominini hominine Homininae hominid Hominidae hominoid Hominoidea anyone else thinking of Ed Norton?
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While I realize that Hominoidea species not too closely related to the lineage leading to man are frequently called “apes”, whether extant or fossil, there seems to be a countervailing tendency to use the term primariliy for modern apes and for a bewildering array of more “ape-like” fossil creatures than those leading to, roughly, ourselves and our closer fossil relatives.
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This seems to be the rationale for using the term “ape-like” rather than the more rationalized “ape” term for Hominoidea, and especially for Hominidae.
Comments
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