According to paleoanthropologists, which of the following is most closely related biologically to homo sapiens

Question

australopithecus boisei

austalopithecus afarensis

homo habilis

homo erectus

Answer 1

Chimpanzees are our closest relatives.

Answer 2

Put in the following!!

Answer 3

Extinct or living?

Extinct: Homo Erectus

Living: Chimpanzee

Answer 4

Richard Simmons

Answer 5

Uhhh...the first one.  I don't know what are the options?

Answer 6

Paleoanthropologists haven't reached a consensus on which ancient hominid was our closest relative or possibly even direct ancestor.  However, geneticists do agree that we all share 98% of our genetic codes with the pongonids (chimps and bonobos).  How can two percent account for such tremendous morphological differences?  Well partly, it's because MRNA is as important as DNA.  Meaning we may share the same genes that tell cells to become body hair, but the messenger RNA tells a whole lot more cells to become body hair for our cousins than it does for us.  Also, considering the size of a chain of DNA, two percent is huge.  Consider this...Humans are 99.9% genetically indentical with one another.  How, then, can we use DNA like finger prints?  Well, a DNA molecule can contain up to 3 billion basepairs (the amino acids that make up "rungs" on the ladder of the double helix), meaning that one tenth of one percent represents 3 million basepairs that can differ from one person to another.