anthropoid ape

[ an-thruh-poid eyp ]

noun

1. any member of the former taxonomic suborder Anthropoidea, under which New World monkeys, Old World monkeys, and apes, including humans, were grouped: modern classification groups these under the suborder Haplorhini along with the tarsiers.

anthropoid ape

noun

1. any primate of the family Pongidae, having no tail, elongated arms, and a highly developed brain. The group includes gibbons, orang-utans, chimpanzees, and gorillas

anthropoid ape

/ ăn′thrə-poid′ /

1. A primate belonging to the family Pongidae, which includes the chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and orangutan. Orangutans are arboreal whereas the other three species are terrestrial or semiarboreal. Anthropoid apes move in trees mainly by arm-swinging and on the ground by quadrupedal walking in which the upper body weight is borne on the knuckles.
2. Also called great ape pongid
3. Compare hominid

Word History and Origins

Origin of anthropoid ape¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

The pages that follow describe how the infant son of the dead Lord and Lady Greystoke is reared by an anthropoid ape named Kala and learns to survive and flourish in the African jungle.

From Washington Post

The aids virus may well have jumped into the human race from African primates, from monkeys and anthropoid apes.

From Literature

Variation in the dimension of lower molars in man and anthropoid apes.

From Scientific American

“Doubtless there are geniuses even among the anthropoid apes,” Yerkes observed.

From Scientific American

The battle has no longer to be fought over the question of the fundamental identity of the physical structure of man and of the anthropoid apes.

From Project Gutenberg