Ape years ago (Mya) the clades diverged into newer clades. The lesser apes are the gibbon family, Hylobatidae, of sixteen species; all are native to Asia. Their major differentiating characteristic is their long arms, which they use to brachiate through trees. Their wrists are ball and socket joints as an evolutionary adaptation to their arboreal lifestyle. Generally smaller than the African apes, the largest gibbon, the siamang, weighs up to ; in comparison, the smallest "great ape", the bonobo, is . Formerly, all the great apes except humans were classified as the family Pongidae, which conveniently provided for separating the human
Ape House the Great Ape Language Lab. Scientist Isabel Duncan and journalist John Thigpen are at the core of the novel as the main characters. John was sent to write a report about on the ape lab, but he gets involved significantly after the lab is blown up by a bomb and the animals go missing. He discovers that a reality television show is airing called "Ape House" which the apes are a part of. Isabel and John team up to save the apes and are helped by a variety of colorful characters. The novel received generally mixed reviews, with the "Los