Gibbons were the first apes to diverge from the common ancestor of humans and apes about 16.8 million years ago. With a genome that has a 96% similarity to humans, the gibbon has a role as a bridge between Old World Monkeys like macaques and the great apes. According to a study that mapped synteny (genes occurring on the same chromosome) disruptions in the gibbon and human genome, humans and great apes are part of the same superfamily (Hominoidea) with gibbons. The karyotype of gibbons, however, diverged in a much more rapid fashion from the common hominoid ancestor than other apes.