[dangus]

>> The two closest related apes are humans and chimps. <<

If by most closely related you mean sharing the highest portion of DNA. But that’s a little like saying that my Ford is more closely related to my lunchbox than to my Saturn. (The Ford and the lunchbox are both steel. The Saturn has a higher component of plastic.)

[allmendream]

No it is not saying the same thing. Our DNA is closest, all living things use DNA for their hereditary material, and ours and a chimp are closer than either is to a gorilla.

The high degree of homology between humans and chimps, as well as the nested hierarchy of similarity and divergence of DNA sequences is best explained by our recent common ancestry.

There is simply no zoological justification for removing humans from the ape clade, but plenty of egotistical and prideful justifications.