The Visible Ape Project (VAP) is a free online platform providing unprecedented access to a suite of resources designed to comprehensively illustrate and educate about the anatomy of our closest relatives, the apes. It contains photographs, magnetic resonance images, and computed tomography scans, as well as three‐dimensional models that can be manipulated to explore homologies and variations in soft and hard tissues in hylobatids, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos. Based at Howard University, a historically black university, it aims to reach communities underrepresented in anthropology and evolutionary biology, providing educational materials appropriate for K‐12 and college classrooms in both English and Spanish. Accordingly, VAP incorporates outreach activities to disseminate science and promote awareness of apes, forming partnerships with veterinarians and conservationists in Africa and Asia. In this paper, we present an introduction to the website to illustrate how this accessible, evolving resource can support evolutionary anthropology and related disciplines.

Based at a Howard University, the Visible Ape Project (http://www.visibleapeproject.com) aims to provide free, publicly accessible anatomical educational resources suitable for classrooms from K‐12 and beyond. It is designed to comprehensively illustrate anatomy and anatomical variation within and between extant ape species. It contains photographs, MRI, CT scans, and 3D models to explore homologies and variations in soft and hard tissues across hylobatids, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. These include detailed, labeled 3D artist renderings of the musculoskeletal system as well as 3D models of the skeletal and central nervous system based on radiological imaging of apes. They can be manipulated or downloaded and 3D printed to explore anatomy interactively, promoting active learning. Additional educational materials are available, including information about non‐human ape species, lesson plans, and a glossary of evolutionary and anatomical terms. The primary goals of the project are to promote human and ape evolutionary anatomy, broadly, and to integrate and disseminate to communities underrepresented in anthropology and evolutionary biology, specifically. Accordingly, the VAP incorporates outreach activities to disseminate science and promote awareness of apes, forming partnerships with veterinarians and conservationists in Africa and Asia. Additionally, we include many resources in Spanish. The site has been accessed by individuals from many countries across the globe, including many Spanish speaking countries, and nearly all US states. In this presentation, we will introduce the website to illustrate how this accessible, evolving resource can support research and education in human and comparative anatomy.

Limited research on the gross anatomy of the blood vessels has been conducted on hylobatids, or lesser apes, so far. Here, we present a detailed study of the arteries of siamangs (Symphalangus) and compare our findings with data compiled from our previous studies as well as from the literature about other hylobatids, greater apes, and humans. In particular, a three-dimensional full-body computed tomography data set of a siamang neonate was analyzed in detail for this study, with notable findings in the head and neck, thorax, upper limb, abdomen and pelvis, and lower limb. Of the 62 arteries that we studied in detail, a total of 20 arteries that have never been described in detail in hylobatids are reported in this study. Key similarities to other apes differing from humans include the existence of a humeral common circumflex trunk and the origination of the dorsalis pedis from the posterior tibial artery or saphenous artery instead of the anterior tibial artery. Similarities to humans differing from other apes include the separation of the lingual and facial arteries and the origination of the profunda brachii from the brachial artery instead of the axillary artery. Our research and broader comparisons, therefore, contribute to knowledge about the soft tissues of hylobatids, other apes, and primates in general and facilitate a better understanding of the anatomical evolution and key differences and similarities among these taxa.