The various living and extinct species of Man are assigned by zoologists to the family Hominidae, which belongs to the sub-order Anthropoidea (containing monkeys, apes, and baboons), of the order Primates (containing also Tarsius and the lemurs), of the class Mammalia.
His nearest living relatives are the four genera of the family Simiidae (the so-called Anthropoid Apes): the gorilla and chimpanzee of equatorial Africa and the orang-utan and gibbon of southeastern Asia and the East Indies. Man is distinguished from the higher apes by the greater size of his brain (especially the forebrain), his fully erect position in walking, the better adaptation of his hands for grasping and holding, and his use of language for communication.