Apes do not have tails due to a mutation of the TBXT gene. [2][3] In traditional and non-scientific use, the term ape can include tailless primates taxonomically considered Cercopithecidae (such as the Barbary ape and black ape), and is thus not equivalent to the scientific taxon Hominoidea.

Sep 24, 2021 · Around 25 million years ago, our ancestors lost their tails. Now geneticists may have found the exact mutation that prevents apes like us growing tails – and if they are right, this loss...

Feb 28, 2024 · Hominoids—which include humans and the apes—however, lost their external tail during evolution. The loss of the tail is inferred to have occurred around 25 million years ago when the hominoid...

Mar 1, 2024 · One of the most striking differences between monkeys and other primates on the one hand and apes on the other is that—with a few exceptions—other primates have tails but apes don’t. A new paper in Nature, which is really cool, …

Feb 28, 2024 · A new study suggests that apes, including chimpanzees and humans, lack tails because a genetic parasite altered a gene important for tail development when the group diverged from other primates...

Feb 29, 2024 · Thanks to some advances in gene-editing technology, a new clue to ape tail loss has been uncovered. A genetic diversion in our ancient ancestors about 25 million years ago, according to a study...

Sep 11, 2024 · Tails are almost ubiquitous throughout the animal kingdom, yet all apes—the superfamily that includes gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans—lack an external tail! Why would tail loss occur in an entire group of animals when it seems so useful?

Feb 28, 2024 · Scientists shed light on the 25-million-year-old genetic twist behind why humans and their ape relatives lack tails.

Apr 9, 2025 · A mobile DNA sequence could explain tail loss in humans and apes In their study, Yoo et al. characterize the complete centromere composition of most chromosomes across apes.

Mar 21, 2025 · Scientists have long classified apes as tailless primates, distinguishing them from monkeys. Recent genetic research has uncovered surprising insights into the evolutionary changes that led to tail loss in apes.