Unraveling The Myths Of The Humanzee: The Fascinating Yet Controversial Chimp-Human Hybrid

Tales of a "humanzee," or chimp-human hybrid, are as common as they are compelling. But to say nothing of whether or not such a hybrid could be possible, all signs point to the tales being fabricated. An old rumor has circulated in headlines again, that a scientist has claimed a humanzee once existed. The Sun reported that evolutionary psychologist Gordon Gallup had recalled an alleged experiment in which scientists impregnated a female chimp with human sperm. According to the story, the chimp gave birth to a hybrid, but the scientists became concerned with the ethical implications the infant would bring up, so they allegedly killed it.

Gallup doesn’t claim to have witnessed the experiment, but The Sun reports that another professor, whom he trusted, told him it was true. The story gets murky and inconsistent as it passes from person to person and as time goes on. Science Alert explains that, although the experiment is purported to have occurred at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in the 1920s, the center hadn’t even been called that until the 30s. ScienceAlert reports that the facility went by the names Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology and Anthropoid Breeding and Experiment Station. Furthermore, the idea of killing a half-human child for ethical reasons seems counterintuitive.

However, there have been multiple, documented attempts to breed humans with chimpanzees, who, along with bonobos, are our closest relatives. For example, in the 1920s, Soviet scientist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov wanted to make a "chuman" by impregnating women with chimp sperm while pretending to conduct a medical exam, according to New Scientist. The experiments were to take place in Guinea, which was a French colony at the time. The French governor forbade it, and although Ivanov later found willing volunteers in the Soviet Union, his sperm-donor chimp died before he could proceed.