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| credit: Genome Institue |
A Malay derivation for "man of the forest" is "orangutan". Indeed, the name is accurately descriptive now that the orangutan's genome, or DNA code, has been mapped by science. The project was conducted by an international team of scientists led by the
Genome Institute at Washington University. Their results were published in the peer journal,
Nature. There are only two species of orangutans remaining, one on Borneo and the other on Sumatra. The Sumatran species is critically endangered. Estimates are that only about 7500 survive in the wild. The genome map will help in breeding activities intended to preserve the species. Genome maps have been completed for humans, chimpanzees and rhesus monkeys. Work continues on the genomes of gorillas and bonobos. Analysis of the orangutan genetic code reveals many unique features. Orangs may be the oldest specie of primates living today. During the past 15 million years of primate evolution, orangutan genes have been the most stable, with comparatively fewer large scale changes. Orangutans evolved slowly, grow slowly and reproduce slowly, giving birth not more than once every six to seven years, an interval considered the longest among mammals. Their slow approach to life contributes to their declining population in the wild as their forest homes are destroyed at a rapid rate. Comparisons of Sumatran and Bornean species shows they split apart genetically about 400,000 years ago. Even though there are fewer Sumatran orangs, they are more genetically diverse than their 50,000 Bornean relatives. Humans and orangutans share on a gross scale about 97% of their genetic codes.