A University of Pittsburgh researcher today published a paper suggesting humans most likely share a common ancestor with orangutans, challenging the prevailing belief that our closest relative is the chimpanzee.

The paper, in the Journal of Biogeography, is by Jeffrey Schwartz, a Pitt professor of anthropology, and John Grehan of the Buffalo Museum.

They conducted a detailed analysis of the physical features of living and fossil apes that suggested humans, orangutans, and early apes belong to a group separate from chimpanzees and gorillas.

According to a news release, the researchers reject as "problematic" the popular suggestion, based on DNA analysis, that humans are most closely related to chimpanzees, "which they maintain is not supported by fossil evidence."