CHIMPANZEES should take their rightful place alongside humans within the genus Homo. The biologists behind the resurrection of this controversial idea, say that the latest advances in genetics reveal greater similarities than differences between chimps and people. If they get their way, the reclassification would inflame the moral and philosophical debate over the conservation of chimp populations decimated by the bush-meat trade and Ebola, as well as their use in animal experiments.
Traditionally, chimps have been classified with the other great apes, gorillas and orang-utans, in the family Pongidae, which is separate from the human family Hominidae. But recent genetic…
