Human
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| Human Fossil range: Pleistocene - Recent | ||||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||
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| Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 |
The modern human (Homo sapiens sapiens, Latin: "the wise man"[1]) is the only living relative in the genus Homo. The closest relatives within the family Hominidae (the great apes) are the Chimpanzees. Humans distinguish themselves from all other primates by their erect posture, bipedal gait and greater use of language and technology.
Humans are very successful and have colonized all continents of the earth, though some, such as Thomas Malthus, fear that humans are growing beyond the ability of the environment to support them. See Demography for more on human population growth.