Evolution of Primate Chromosomes

Abstract

Human and higher primate chromosomes have been compared by general and regional banding methods, including hybridization in situ. The general banding patterns of the chromosomes of gorilla, chimpanzee, and orangutan, but not gibbon, are similar to those of the human. Preliminary results show that chromosomes with similar banding patterns in different species often carry the same genes. Repetitious DNA's have undergone changes in structure and distribution which are reflected in changes in the regional banding patterns. These studies confirm that the evolutionary distance between the gibbon and the orangutan is relatively great compared to the distance between the orangutan and the other great apes, and suggest that man is more closely related to the gorilla than to the chimpanzee.