If chimpanzees and humans are each other's closest relatives

Last updated: 7/8/2022

If chimpanzees and humans are each other's closest relatives, how do you explain the fact that chimpanzees have an opposable hallux (big toe) like gorillas, but unlike humans? (Pick the most parsimonious answer) a. Gorilla and chimpanzee lineages independently evolved an opposable hallux b. The opposable hallux is an ancestral character that has been modified in the human lineage c. Chimpanzees are more closely related to gorillas than to humans d. In young gorillas and chimpanzees, the hallux becomes opposable as they climb trees, and this trait is passed on to their offspring e. Chimpanzees and gorillas have a developmental constraint that prevents the hallux from resembling the human morphology