ATLANTA, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A Georgia Tech genetic study suggests humans and chimps may be more closely related to each other than chimps are to gorillas or orangutans.
The researchers also found humans evolved at a slower rate than apes.
Biologist Soojin Yi and colleagues found the rate of human and chimp molecular evolution -- changes occurring over time at the genetic level -- is much slower than that of gorillas and orangutans, with the evolution of humans being the slowest of all.
The researchers found the speed of the molecular clock in humans and chimps is so similar, it suggests certain human-specific traits -- such as generation time -- began to evolve 1 million years ago, which is very recently in terms of evolution.
"For the first time, we've shown that the difference in the rate of molecular evolution between humans and chimpanzees is very small, but significant, suggesting that the evolution of human-specific life history traits is very recent," said Yi.
The research appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
