anonymous: Hi! I'm a 7th grader in Hawaii and I need someone who I can interview about monkeys and how they are related to humans... Could anyone help me?
Guy Norton: Basically we're related in that baboons and humans are primates. Baboons are monkeys, and monkeys are distantly related to apes and humans. Humans basically are a kind of ape. Monkeys and what became apes and humans separated evolutionarily more than 10 million years ago. There are two basic kinds of monkeys: Old World and New World monkeys. Old World monkeys are much more closely related to apes and humans than New World monkeys.

enero11111: I wish to call attention to the use of the phrase "Wild Ladies" in describing the female baboon population of Viramba. In a commercial advertising for this special, the announcer used "these women" as a descriptor. It seems that the vocabulary used to describe these animals are terms that are specifically for describing human females. I am wondering if in describing male baboons the term "men" or "guys" would be used?
Guy Norton: I noticed that in the ad as well, and it's not a phrase I would have used. Holly actually talks about this at the end of the documentary where she makes it very clear that there's a difference between humans and baboons. Holly and we are very clear of that difference and would not treat them as human beings.

horakhti73: What have we learned about humans and their origins by studying baboons?
Guy Norton: I actually find this a difficult question. I think what we learn from baboons is how to ask the right questions about human origins. To do that we need to understand the ecological conditions and processes under which the hominid, or human, group evolved. So I would say that studying baboons shows us how to look at evolution in a mosaic habitat where food comes in patches, and where it comes in packages that have to be found and processed in complex and difficult ways. Those kinds of observations on baboons allows us to consider problems of diet and finding and processing food, as well as problems of safety and shelter.

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