The notion that chimpanzees and other apes have superhuman strength dates back first to tall tales from European explorers in sub-Saharan Africa in the early 19th century and then to research in the 1920s by biologist John Bauman, who studied chimps in zoos. Therefore, it has been difficult to accurately compare strength between the two primates. Adult chimps are generally smaller than adult humans on average, the apes weigh about 100 lbs. This greater number of slow-twitch fibers may have evolved because it gave early humans the advantage of being able to travel long distances and forage, and allowed them to rely less on powerful movements for survival and fitness, O'Neill said.įor years, scientists have suspected that chimpanzees are more powerful than humans, but that suspicion was based largely on anecdotal evidence. 'We can … do things like run marathons, unlike chimpanzees.' 'Previous studies have shown that slow fibers are more fatigue resistant and less costly to contract than fast fibers,' O'Neill said.

O'Neill led the research group that reported the findings, which were published today (June 26) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

These differences in muscles likely emerged within the past 7 million years, when early human ancestors developed more slow-twitch muscle fibers (which are good for endurance) than fast-twitch muscles (which are good for speed and punch), according to Matthew O'Neill, an assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

Chimpanzee vs human arm wrestling