Humanzee

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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 humans and chimpanzees, it has been speculated that such a hybrid is theoretically possible, even though no hybrids have been confirmed.

Bonobo have about the same genetic similarity to humans as chimpanzee, and as such a hybrid between a human and a bonobo is as likely to be created as a hybrid between a chimp and human.[note 1] Despite this fact, the topic of a possible bonobo-human hybrid rarely gets brought up when talking about a humanzee, likely because most forget about the existence of the far rarer bonobos. It's likely those aware of the possibility use the term Humanzee as a catch-all for all possible chimp-human or bonobo-human hybrids, despite not technically being accurate.

Alleged cases and attempts[edit]

Count Gulielmus[edit]

Though not specifically identified as involving 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[1] 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[2] (in office 1061-1073).

Vichy, France[edit]

In 1897, an anencephalic birth was reported in Vichy, France ("L'anencéphale de Vichy"). It was alleged by the author, Dr. Louis Bounoure, that the birth was due to a female human mating with a male chimpanzee.[3][4]

Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov[edit]

Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov in 1927

A scientist named Dr. Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov tried to create hybrids of humans and other great apes in the late 1920s, but did not succeed in the few experiments he conducted: artificially inseminating[note 2] three female chimpanzees. However, the death of his last male ape, followed by the usual political maneuvering in the early Soviet Union that saw him exiled to Kazakhstan, meant his attempt to artificially inseminate five human females (probably) never went ahead.[note 3] There is a false rumor that he did it for Stalin, who is alleged to have told Ivanov, "I want a new invincible human being, insensitive to pain, resistant and indifferent about the quality of food they eat."[5][6][7] The quote is popular among creationists.[8][6] The true motivations of Ivanov (or at least of his financial supporters) was the demonstration of "positive" eugenics, based on Lysenkoism.[6]

Ji Yongxiang[edit]

Ji Yongxiang, the head of a hospital in Shengyang, China, claimed that he was part of a 1967 human-chimpanzee crossbreeding experiment, but that the experiment was stopped by the Cultural Revolution.[9]

Oliver[edit]

In the 1970s, a chimpanzee named OliverWikipedia was thought to be a humanzee due to his unusual appearance and habit walking upright, but genetic testing found him to have the 48 chromosomes of chimpanzees.[10] Oliver's morphology fell within the normal range of chimpanzees.[11]

Actual evidence[edit]

Since humans have 46 chromosomes and chimpanzees 48 (what are two separate chromosomes in chimps and other great apes have been fused together in humans to form the human chromosome 2), any offspring would have 47 chromosomes, rendering them almost certainly infertile.

There is some evidence that the chimpanzee genus (Pan) and early non-Homo hominid species (Ardipithecus or Orrorin) may have hybridized.[12]

See also[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ The odds may even be higher, since bonobos are likely far more open to the idea of the required interspecies banging then chimps, considering they happily practice every other possible type of banging known to man in abundance.
  2. ↑ We know what you were thinking.
  3. ↑ Though, just to give you goosebumps, it's worth mentioning his son and other assistants were in a perfect position to proceed, had a shipment of new apes on the way to the lab, and the lab's records of the next few years are oddly inaccessible to the public. Not saying it happened… but it at least could have happened. Maybe.

References[edit]

  1. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Peter Damian.
  2. ↑ De bono religiosi status et variorum animatium tropologia
  3. ↑ L’Anencéphale à type simiesque de la Maternité de l'hôpital civil de Vichy by A. Therre & Louis Bounoure (1943) Protat Frère.
  4. ↑ Ape-human Hybrids: Hybrids out of History by Eugene M. McCarthy. Macroevolution.net
  5. ↑ At the Edge of Uncertainty: 11 Discoveries Taking Science by Surprise by Michael Brooks (2015) Overlook Press. ISBN 1468310593. Page 65.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Scientific Ethics and Stalin's Ape-Man Superwarriors by Eric Michael Johnson (November 10, 2011) Scientific American.
  7. ↑ Beyond Species: Il'ya Ivanov and His Experiments on Cross-Breeding Humans with Anthropoid Apes by Kirill Rossiianov (2003) Science in Context, Volume 15, Issue 2, pp. 277-316.
  8. ↑ Stalin’s ape-man Superwarriors by Russell Grigg (20 August 2007) Creation.com; Some creationist bullshit.
  9. ↑ Chinese Aim To Implant Human Sperm In Chimps by Timothy McNulty (12 February 1981). St. Petersburg Independent, p. 19.
  10. ↑ "Mutant" Chimp Gets Gene Check (1 Nov 1996) Science, Vol. 274, Issue 5288, pp. 727. DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5288.727e.
  11. ↑ W. C. O. Hill In: Anatomy, Behavior, and Diseases of Chimpanzees, edited by Geoffrey H. Bourne (1969).
  12. ↑ Genetic evidence for complex speciation of humans and chimpanzees by Nick Patterson et al. (2006) Nature 441, 1103-1108. doi:10.1038/nature04789.
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