Lecturas en inglés para estudiantes de Secundaria: 10 amazing facts about apes

¿Quieres saber unas cuantas curiosidades sobre los simios? Te invitamos a leer 10 amazing facts about apes elaborado por la redacción de la revista para aprender inglés I Love English.

Los niños conocerán datos muy interesantes y sorprendentes sobre la vida y costumbres de una de las especies más parecidas a los seres humanos. Además, aprenderán nuevo vocabulario y practicarán la lectura en inglés.

Ver +: Divertidas lecturas en inglés para adolescentes

10 amazing facts about apes

Conoce a una de las especies animales más parecidas a los humanos / Apes are very similar to humans in many aspects. Get to know them better!

1. Based on genetic analysis, we humans are closely related to apes, sharing 99.6% of our DNA with chimpanzees and bonobos, 98% with gorillas and 97% with orangutans. Great apes and humans have also the same blood types: A, B, AB and O, but, still, their blood differs in too many details so as to be able to transfer it from humans to apes and vice versa.

2. Apes are believed to be one of the smartest creatures on Earth along with dolphins and humans. They do not only can understand humans, but also learn to communicate with us through sign language. They can use more than a thousand signs and even create new words.

3. Like human kids, apes learn through observation and repetition rather than by conditioning or instinct only. For example, they rely more on their eyesight than their sense of smell. There are also orangutans that are great at maths, chimpanzees that have beaten their human trainers at memory games, and bonobos that can identify and keep a specific musical rhythm while beating a drum. 

4. Apes also have more complex social structures than other species and make the most of their environment to create a certain lifestyle. Gorillas, chimps, orangutans and bonobos show incredible use of tools and building capabilities. For instance, they can use sticks as weapons to attack or defend themselves.

Ver también: dibujo de un gorila para colorear

5. They also choose large forks in strong branches to construct nests that can support their weight and then cushion the nests with smaller leaves for comfort. By the way, apes make a new nest every night, so they may build around 20,000 nests throughout their lives.

6. Did you know that apes enjoy watching movies or TV programmes? They show different emotional reactions to the images and the story, and, after a movie, they even can remember major events from it.

7. Apes have their own language. Gorillas use expressions, gestures and vocalisations or subtle noises to communicate with one another. These do not necessarily have the same meaning than for us humans. For example, we associate smiles with joy, but apes? smiles mean only greeting, bonding or sense of connection.

8. Some male orangutans develop large facial pads on their jowls known as flanges. Females feel extremely attracted to them! In fact, they prefer to mate with padded or flanged males than with unflanged ones.

9. Apes have long lifespans. Orangutans, for example, live up to 45 years. And they regularly have a single baby every five-eight years. The young depend on their mothers for more than six years, until they learn how to find food, use tools, build nests and survive on their own.

10. Sadly, apes are under threat. Since the early 19th century, populations have declined because they loose their habitats or are hunted or captured to be taken to zoos or used for research purposes.