Buffalo Museum of Science

External ear morphology

Comparisons indicated that humans and orangutans share a unique configuration and proximity of the inner and outer helix where the two structures are closely aligned midway between the top and bottom. This feature was first recognized by Claudia Violette.

For further information on the evidence for humans sharing a most recent common ancestor with the orangtutan please visit the Orangutans and Human Origins page.

HOMINOIDEA
Hominidae
Homo sapiens Inner and outer helix closely alinged along mid region of ear. Characteristic possibly uniquely shared with orangutan
	Al Parker	Deidre Dawkins

	Lynn Metzger	Meghan Dye
Pongidae
*Pongo pygmaeus* Inner helix closely justaposed with outer helix along med region of ear. Possilby uniquely shared feature with humans. Sharp angle of justaposition possilby unique to orangutans
	Satu. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Chantek. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Allen. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Bernas. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
Panidae
Pan paniscus
	Courtesy Rick Murphy
Pan troglodytes Inner and outer helix widely spaced apart
	Juvenile. Courtesy Rick Murphy	MacDonald 2006
*Pan*
	Web image
Gorilla gorilla beringei
	Courtesy Rick Murphy
Gorilla gorilla gorilla Transverse bar between inner and outer helix (arrowed). Possibliy unique to some gorillas and some chimpanzees. Note that inner and outer helix run more or less parallel
	Male, Courtesy Rick Murphy	Shamba. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Jasiri. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Machi. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Mbeli. Courtesy Stephanie Scanlin, ZooAtlanta	Olympia. Courtesy Stephanie Scanlin, ZooAtlanta

	Ozzie. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Charlie. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Kali. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Coomba. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Olympia. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Kekla. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Stadi. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
Hylobatidae
*Hylobates agilis*
	Courtesy Kelly Boyer, Houston Zoo
*Hylobates klossii*
	Courtesy Thomas Geismann
Hylobates lar
	Courtesy Thomas Geismann	Schultz 1944
*Hylobates syndactylus*
	From cast. Courtesy Thomas Geismann

*PLATYRRHINI*
CALLITRIDAE
*Callimico goeldii*
	Hill, 1953
*Callithrix jacchus*
	Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Callithrix pygmaea*
	Hill, 1953
Leontopithecus rosalia
	Spree. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Dionisio. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
*Leontopithecus rosalia*
	Theo. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
*Saguinus fusicollis*
	Hill, 1953
CEBIDAE
Aotinae
Aotus trivirgatus
	Hill 1953
Alouattinae
Alouatta belzebul
	juvenile female. Hill 1953
Atelinae
Ateles belzebuth
	A. belzebuth hybridus. Hill 1953
*Brachyteles arachnoides*
	Hill 1953
Lagothrix *lagotricha*
Callicebinae	L. cana. Hill 1953
Callicebus sp.
	Courtesy Noel Rowe	Hill 1953
Cebinae
Cebus capucinus
	Hill, 1953
Saimiri
Pitheciinae
*Cacajao ayresii*
	Courtesy Ítalo Mourthé CPEC-INPA, Brasil
Cacajao rubicundus
	C. ubicundus ucayali male. Hill 1953, p. 225
Chiropotes
Pithecia

*CATARHINII*
Cercopithecidae
Cercopithecinae
*Allenopithecus nigroviridis*
	Male, Hill 1953
Cercopithecus hamlyni
	Male, Hill 1953
*Cercopithecus mona*
	Lisa. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
*Cerocebus atys atys*
Cerocebus torquatus
	Courtesy Noel Rowe
	Hill 1953
Chlorocebus athiops Vervet monkey (contributed as Cercocebus athiops pyrgerythus)
	Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Chlorocebus cynosuros*
	Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Erythrocebus patas*
	Male. Courtesy Noel Rowe	Female, Hill 1953
*Lophocebus*
*Macaca assamensis*
Juvenile. Courtesy Noel Rowe
Macaca fascicularis
	Courtesy Françoise Noël
Macaca mulatta
	Courtesy Adrian Shepherd
*Macaca pagensis*
	Male. Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Macaca radiata*
	Female. Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Macaca sinica*
	Female. Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Mandrillus leucophaeus*
	Bobby. Courtesy ZooAtlanata	Aiku. Courtesy ZooAtlanta

	Enwe. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
*Mandrillus sphinx*
	Courtesy Rick Murphy	Newborn male. Hill 1953
Miopithecus sp.
	Juvenile. Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Miopithecus talapoin*
	Male, Hill 1953
*Miopithecus talapoin*
	Female, courtesy Janette Wallis	Female, Hill 1953
*Papio hamadryas anubis*
	Juvenile female, Hill 1953
Papio hamadryas cynocephalus
	Female, Hill 1953
Papio hamadryas hamadryas
Papio hamadryas papio female
	Male, Hill 1953
*Papio hamadryas ursinus*
	Female, Hill 1953
Theropithecus
Colobinae
Colobus
Nasalis larvatus
	By permission, from Rowe 1996
Presbytis
Procolobus
Pygathrix
Semnopithecus entellus
	Courtesy Adrian Shepherd
Trachypithecus


*TARSIFORMES*
TARSIIDAE
Tarsier dianae
	From Rowe 1996
*STREPSIRRHINI*
GALGONIDAE
*Galgo molholi*
	By permission, from Rowe 1996
*Otolemur crassicaudatus*
	Courtesy Noel Rowe
*Otolemur garnetii*
	By permission, from Rowe 1996
LORIDAE
Arctocebus calabarensis
	By permission, from Rowe 1996
*LEMURIFORMES*
CHEIROGALIDAE
Microcebus rufus
	Courtesy Stacey Tecot, The University of Texas at Austin
LEMURIDAE
*Eulemur macaco*
	Julius. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
*Eulemur rubriventer*
	Courtesy Stacey Tecot, The University of Texas at Austin
Lemur catta
	Julius. Courtesy ZooAtlanta
Varecia variegata
	Potter. Courtesy ZooAtlanta	Fleur. Courtesy ZooAtlanta