South Djoum Chimp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Gray, 1825


Homininae is a subfamily of Hominidae, including Homo sapiens and some extinct relatives, as well as the gorillas and the chimpanzees. It comprises all those hominids, such as Australopithecus, that arose after the split from the other great apes (of which orangutans are the only surviving group).

As of 1980, the family Hominidae contained only humans, with the great apes in the family Pongidae. Discoveries led to a revision of classification, with the great apes (now Ponginae) and humans (Homininae) united in Hominidae. But further discoveries indicated that gorillas and chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than they are to orangutans, hence their current placement in Homininae. Hominoid taxonomy has had several changes in the classification of apes in recent years.

The subfamily Homininae can be further subdivided into the tribes Gorillini (gorillas) and Hominini (chimpanzees and humans).



Hominoid family tree
