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Apes are found in the tropical forests of western and central Africa and Southeast Asia. Apes are distinguished from monkeys by the complete absence of a tail and their more complex brains. Although human beings are categorized zoologically as members of the broader ape superfamily, they are usually placed within their own subcategories on account of their larger brain size, more advanced cognitive abilities (particularly the ability to speak), and striding two-legged gait.

The gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan are called great apes in recognition of their comparatively large size and humanlike features; the gibbons are called lesser apes. The great apes are much more intelligent than monkeys and gibbons. Great apes, for example, are able to recognize themselves in mirrors (monkeys and other nonhumans cannot, with the exception of bottlenose dolphins). They can also reason abstractly, learn quasi-linguistic communication, at least when taught by humans, and learn in captivity to make simple tools (though some populations of orangutans and chimpanzees make tools in the wild). The great apes were formerly classified in their own family, Pongidae, but, because of their extremely close relation to humans and the fact that orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees are not as closely related to each other as chimpanzees are to humans, all are now grouped with humans in the family Hominidae.

Adapted from "Primate", Britannica Kids, Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 Nov. 2020. kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/primate/105977