Humanzee
Humanzee is the hypothetical hybrid between a human and a chimpanzee. Under conventional rules for naming, it would be a hybrid between a male human and a female chimp; the hybrid between a female human and a male chimp would be a Chuman. Due to huge similarity in the DNA of man and chimp, it has been speculated that such a hybrid is possible, even though no hybrids have been confirmed.
Though not specifically mentioned to be a chimpanzee, historically the first allegation of a human ape hybrid would seem to be the legend of Count Gulielmus; whose pet ape became his wife's lover after becoming infuriated with jealousy watching them have sex. The story was first publicized by Doctor of the Church Petrus Damiani in his 11th century work "De bono religiosi status et variorum animatium tropologia" or "Illustrated Book of Sexual Records"; allegedly told to him by Pope Alexander II.
A scientist named Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov tried to create a human-chimpanzee hybrid, but did not succeed in the few experiments he conducted, artificially inseminating[1] three female chimpanzees. Fortunately, the death of his male chimp, followed by the usual political maneuvering in the Soviet Union that saw him tried and exiled, meant his attempt to artificially inseminate five human females never went ahead. There is a story that he did it for Stalin, who is supposed to have said to have told Ivanov, "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat."[2]
Since humans have 46 chromosomes and chimpanzees 48, any offspring would have 47 chromosomes, rendering them almost certainly infertile.
A chimpanzee named Oliver was thought to be a humanzee, but testing found it to have the 48 chromosomes found in chimpanzees. Not enough experiments have been done on the possibility of human-chimp hybridisation; we cannot say it is impossible without further experimentation.[3]
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- ↑ We know what you were thinking.
- ↑ Some creationist bullshit.
- ↑ Unsurprisingly enough, few university ethics committees are willing to allow such experimentation.