So not only is there a logical explanation that fits all the facts, but there is a lesson. As a result of this, he had developed resorption of the alveolar bone (that containing the tooth sockets), a shortening of his upper jaw bones, and underdeveloped temporal muscles. His gait and behaviour were, it had long ago been concluded, the result of simple conditioning from living with humans.Īh, but why did he not share the strikingly protruding jawline of other chimps? Simple. Oliver as he is today-nearly blind, arthritic and showing little trace of the ‘human-like’ characters that led to his renown.įor instance, the odd shape of his ears, head, freckles-and the baldness-were all within the range of normal chimp variation. Suddenly, one was able to discover that others had concluded in the 1970s that there were some much more prosaic explanations for all the other ‘hybrid’ or ‘humanoid’ features. In addition, banding and other studies of the chromosome excluded even the possibility of a hybrid between a common chimp and a Bonobo 1-Oliver was just a West African chimp. The result? 48 chromosomes-just a chimp after all. In 1996, at the request of the sanctuary’s director, Wally Swett, Chicago University geneticist Dr David Ledbetter examined Oliver’s chromosomes. An ape-human hybrid now seemed impossible to deny-right? Wrong.Īfter years of being exhibited in sideshows as a freak or ‘missing link’, then spending seven years in a tiny cage waiting to be leased out for scientific or cosmetic testing, Oliver was mercifully retired to an animal sanctuary, Primarily Primates, Texas. Is this an ape, a human, or an ape-human hybrid?īut then along came reports that Oliver had allegedly been found to have 47 chromosomes: right in between the 46 of humans and the 48 of chimps. So no matter how things looked on the surface, there would have to be some explanation for this ‘humanzee’ once all the facts were in. Hence, because things breed ‘after their kind’, they would not be able to interbreed (barring some Frankensteinian gene manipulation by humans).

What we did have, though, was the biblically-based assurance that chimps and humans are undoubtedly not the same Genesis ‘kind’. What could we say to enquirers? The bottom line was that we did not have enough information to come to any firm conclusion. And he had seemed to come to ‘fancy’ his owner’s wife.Īn ape-human hybrid now seemed impossible to deny-right? Wrong! He habitually walked upright, and sat crosslegged in a chair like humans. Reports indicated that Oliver had not been accepted by other chimps, and preferred human company. His pointed (rather than rounded) ears and even his freckles were the subject of much speculation.

His jaws are also less protruding, much more like those of humans. Many have commented on his bald, small, egg-shaped head, which in normal chimps is hairier, larger and flatter. We can easily see that Oliver was certainly different. Was this an ape on its way to being human, some sort of ‘living missing link’? Or, even more disconcerting, was this a human-chimpanzee hybrid? The information, and the photos of Oliver, like those above, were both challenging and intriguing. Enquiries would come, from both concerned Christians or challenging sceptics, concerning Oliver’s peculiar mix of ape and human characteristics. Over the years, CMI has from time to time been made aware of the case of a puzzling ape-like creature named ‘Oliver’ (pictured below). The strange case of the ‘Humanzee’ The incredible story of Oliver, the alleged ‘ape-human hybrid’ Primarily Primates Inc.

Oliver chimpanzee