Orangutan–human last common ancestor

The phylogenetic split of Hominidae into the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae is dated to the middle Miocene, roughly 18 to 14 million years ago.

Homo) Pan Graecopithecus (†8) Ouranopithecus (†7) Crown Gorillini Chororapithecus (†) Nakalipithecus (†9.8) Samburupithecus (†9) Hominoidea (commonly known as apes) are thought to have evolved in Africa by about 18 million years ago.

[10] Dryopithecines' nominate genus Dryopithecus was first uncovered in France, and it had a large frontal sinus which ties it to the African great apes.

About 9.5 million years ago, tropical forest in Europe was replaced by woodlands which were less suitable for great apes, and European Homininae (close to the Dryopithecini-Hominini split) appear to have migrated back to Africa where they would have diverged into Gorillini and Hominini.

[2] Plant fossils reveal that forests use to once extend "from southern Europe, through Central Asia, and into China prior to the formation of the Himalayas".

Structural evolution of the orangutan genome has proceeded much more slowly than other great apes, evidenced by fewer rearrangements, less segmental duplication, and a lower rate of gene family turnover.

Though orangutans are the most phylogenetically distant great apes from humans, they nonetheless share significant similarities: equally large brains, high intelligence, slow lives, hunting, meat-eating, reliance on technology, culture, and language capacity.

Experts often argue that orangutans resemble humans the most closely, showing greater bipedalism, subtle intellectual advantages, and the longest childhood growth and period of dependency.