Hey! That's not what an ape is!

[Cowpie Zombie]

So I'm flipping through my d20 Modern core book and I read the "Ape" entry under the "Friends and Foes" chapter. There we are told that "Apes are powerful omnivores that resemble gorillas but are far more aggressive; they kill and eat anything they can catch."

I said to myself: "Hmmmm....that doesn't sound right." So I did some quick research and confirmed what I already suspected: "Ape" is a general term that encompasses gorillas, gibbons, chimpanzees, and orangutangs. In other words, all gorillas are apes.

It bugged me a bit that the d20 Modern boys invented a "new" type of animal by distinguishing apes from gorillas. I would think the real-world animals should at least be relatively accurate in their information given...

 

[slingbld]

HAR! I never noticed that! You got a point though. I mean, the real world creatures shouldn't be TOO hard to write up correctly :\

 

[takyris]

This just proves what I've been saying about apes and monkeys the whole time, man. Nasty creatures. Nasty and dirty and icky.

Did I mention that there are no apes or monkeys in my campaign world? None. At all. None. Nada.

I have kind of a thing about 'em.

Nasty foul creatures. yech

 

[DMScott]

It bugged me a bit that the d20 Modern boys invented a "new" type of animal by distinguishing apes from gorillas. I would think the real-world animals should at least be relatively accurate in their information given...

I believe the description is taken from the D&D ape, so it's a WOTC error rather than a d20 Modern-specific error. As for why D&D did that, the Monster Manual is not exactly a paragon of zoological research - I imagine they figured "Dire Ape" sounded cool, so they had to put in a normal ape to match.

 

[d4]

interesting. why didn't they just call it a gorilla and be done with it?

or is it supposed to be some kind of parallel universe brand new gorilla-like species that's more aggressive than other types of ape? if so, they should have given it a new name that's not as confusing.

(technically, don't humans fall in the "ape" family tree as well?)

 

[morrolan]

d4 - I think so, in the Pulpy, Tarzany sense of apes that are like gorillas, but not quite. What would you call them though? Maybe Wild Apes or Great Apes, but neither of those terms are any clearer.

 

[jaerdaph]

"Ape" is a general term that encompasses gorillas, gibbons, chimpanzees, and orangutangs.

And thus, Planet of the Apes!

 

[Krieg]

I'm sure the Modern Ape reference is just a throwback to the old 1E Carnivorous Ape (and yes I know this one is an omnivore).

This just proves what I've been saying about apes and monkeys the whole time, man. Nasty creatures. Nasty and dirty and icky.

Ever see Chimpanzees hunt? Wow.

 

[DMScott]

interesting. why didn't they just call it a gorilla and be done with it?

"Dire Gorilla" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Dire Ape", IMHO.

Also, various monkey species have "ape" in their name due to old misclassifications, so that might also be part of the confusion.

(technically, don't humans fall in the "ape" family tree as well?)

Yup. We're pretty similar to chimpanzees and gorillas anatomically.

 

[James Heard]

Yup. We're pretty similar to chimpanzees and gorillas anatomically.

Which opens a train of thought that you just don't want at 4:45 in the morning. Eww.