For the first time ever, a group of researchers has sequenced the genome of the spider. This knowledge provides a much more qualified basis for studying features of the spider. It also shows that humans share certain genomic similarities with spiders.
Ever since researchers sequenced the chimp genome in 2005, they have known that humans share about 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, making them our closest living relatives.
That's right, 60% of the DNA code of fruit flies and humans is identical. That means that most human genes and insect genes are the same and function very similarly.
Apes, Monkeys, And Humans
This family includes orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and bonobos. Of the great apes, humans share 98.8 percent of their DNA with bonobos and chimpanzees. Humans and gorillas share 98.4 percent of their DNA.
How much DNA do humans share with spider monkeys? Humans share over 90% of their DNA with their primate cousins. The expression or activity patterns of genes differ across species in ways that help explain each species' distinct biology and behavior.
About 60 percent of chicken genes correspond to a similar human gene. However, researchers uncovered more small sequence differences between corresponding pairs of chicken and human genes, which are 75 percent identical on average, than between rodent and human gene pairs, which are 88 percent identical on average.
In spite of the evolutionary divergence between octopuses and humans, 69.3% of the genes examined (729 of the 1052 genes) were commonly expressed in the camera eyes of human and octopus.
It's probably not that surprising to learn that humans share 98% of our DNA with chimpanzees–but incredibly, we also share 70% with slugs and 50% with bananas.
Chimpanzees
We share 99 percent of our DNA with chimpanzees, so it comes as no surprise that countless hours of research have been dedicated to understanding the intelligence and behavior of our sister species. This research has firmly established that chimps are one of the most intelligent species on earth.
Human and chimp DNA is so similar because the two species are so closely related. Humans, chimps and bonobos descended from a single ancestor species that lived six or seven million years ago.
“Banana: more than 60 percent identical. Many of the “housekeeping” genes that are necessary for basic cellular function, such as for replicating DNA, controlling the cell cycle, and helping cells divide are shared between many plants (including bananas) and animals.”
The percentage of genetic similarities between humans and animals does vary: chimps, 97% similar; cats, 90%; cows, 80%; mice, 75%; fruit flies, 60%, and jellyfish, 60%.
More startling is an even newer discovery: we share 99% of our DNA with lettuce. This could have startling philosophical, scientific and medical implications.
Could we mate with other animals today? Probably not. Ethical considerations preclude definitive research on the subject, but it's safe to say that human DNA has become so different from that of other animals that interbreeding would likely be impossible.
Chimpanzee: 96 percent identical
By studying the genomes of chimps (which after bonobos are our closest living ancestors), researchers are hoping to understand what makes us uniquely human.
But it turns out they were even more promiscuous than we thought. New DNA research has unexpectedly revealed that modern humans (Homo sapiens) mixed, mingled and mated with another archaic human species, the Denisovans, not once but twice—in two different regions of the ancient world.
CHIMPANZEES. RECKONED to be the most-intelligent animals on the planet, chimps can manipulate the environment and their surroundings to help themselves and their community. They can work out how to use things as tools to get things done faster, and they have outsmarted people many a time.
Though this data might seem to suggest that dogs are twice as intelligent as cats, a direct correlation between larger brain size and increased intelligence has not been conclusively proven. Regardless, dogs' higher neuron count is often viewed as a gauge of their superior intelligence.
Dolphins cheat
Dolphins are often cited as the second smartest animals on Earth due to their relatively high brain-to-body size ratio, the capacity to show emotion, and impressive mimicry of the dumb apes who research them.
By virtue of being the same species, all humans share 99% of their genome, which means that all humans are 99% genetically similar. Our bodies are made up of 3 billion genetic building blocks, or base pairs. Of those 3 billion base pairs, only a tiny amount are unique to us.
Our closest wormy cousins: About 70% of our genes trace their ancestry back to the acorn worm. Summary: Scientists have analyzed the genomes of two acorn worm species and found that approximately two-thirds of human genes have counterparts in the ancestors of these marine animals.
Back to the question on similarity between humans and bananas - overall, the vast majority of human DNA is very different to bananas. However, if you just look at the 2% of DNA corresponding to protein-coding genes, there is a pretty high degree of similarity between them; which is where the 50% comes from.
Scientists have now completed a draft sequence of the frog Xenopus tropicalis and found that the amphibian's genome contains remarkable similarities to those of the mouse, the chicken and, yes, even the human genome.
In their investigation of the platypus genetic blueprint, the scientists found that its genome contains about 18,500 genes, similar to other vertebrates and about two-thirds the size of the human genome. The platypus shares 82 percent of its genes with the human, mouse, dog, opossum and chicken.
The African monkey and humans have the same 93-percent DNA share as alligators and crocodiles, Ray said, but diverged just 25 million years ago from the same primate family. "That suggests that crocodilians are evolving about one-quarter the rate of primates.