Ape/human Hybrids!

[Rhialto]

D'oh! Skimmed too quickly.

Well, in your favor, they had to be getting the... materials somehow...

 

[seankreynolds]

See also Google: Humanzee.

FYI there's an orc-ape crossbreed called the losel, which I wrote up for one of the Living Greyhawk Journal magazines.

 

[Desdichado]

See also Google: Humanzee.

Chimps and humans are so genetically similar as to be nearly indistinguishable, appearances aside. Science estimates that about 95-99% of our genetic code is identical to that of a chimpanzee.

The same is true for most mammals. That isn't really saying much. As interesting as that article in it is, even my layman's view of the genetic science makes me roll my eyes.

 

[seankreynolds]

The same is true for most mammals. That isn't really saying much. As interesting as that article in it is, even my layman's view of the genetic science makes me roll my eyes.

Well, I don't know what "article" you're referring to, as you quoted my entire Google search for the term.

 

[Desdichado]

Well, I don't know what "article" you're referring to, as you quoted my entire Google search for the term.

Yeah, sorry, that's confusing. I think it was a rotten tomatoes article; the first one that came up on the google search. I think I was confused. Don't mind me.

 

[SWBaxter]

Wikipedia article on the Humanzee (or Chuman):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee

I dunno if I'd use something like that in a game, though. On the one hand, it's actually kind of pedestrian - if I've got secret military labs splicing human DNA with wolves or great cats (i.e. the Moreaus in d20 Modern), then ape-human hybrids are something of an anticlimax. And OTOH, it might open a can of worms that I don't necessarily want to address at the gaming table, by redefining taxonomy and possibly creating a religious conflict. YMWV, of course.

 

[Turjan]

And OTOH, it might open a can of worms that I don't necessarily want to address at the gaming table, by redefining taxonomy and possibly creating a religious conflict. YMWV, of course.

How would such a finding change taxonomy? And how would this create a religious conflict? I don't quite see those points, as interesting as such a discovery would be.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

How would such a finding change taxonomy? And how would this create a religious conflict? I don't quite see those points, as interesting as such a discovery would be.

Well, taxonomically, the change has already occurred-- chimpanzees are members of the genus Homo now, instead of Pan.

Speaking vaguely, to avoid offending Eric's grandmother, it would create religious conflict because of the implications on the Creation/Evolution debate. It was one of the reasons, supposedly, that the Soviets got behind the rumored hybridization experiments.

 

[Turjan]

Speaking vaguely, to avoid offending Eric's grandmother, it would create religious conflict because of the implications on the Creation/Evolution debate. It was one of the reasons, supposedly, that the Soviets got behind the rumored hybridization experiments.

I don't think that this is decisive. Evolution is a theory. Everything else is a hypothesis at best. From a scientific point of view, this debate is a non-issue.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Well, taxonomically, the change has already occurred-- chimpanzees are members of the genus Homo now, instead of Pan.

Is this official now? Last I heard, there was still a lot of shouting and hand waving going on about this.