22% Men Think They Can Beat a Chimp. Here’s the Strength Data

Gorillas are in another league

The heaviest living primates are gorillas. The biggest silverbacks are about 50 per cent heavier than Nel, who weighs 148kg.

Reach matters too. A human's arm span roughly equals their height, while a gorilla's can stretch up to 2.7m. That gap is why arm span is nicknamed the ape index: a gorilla could land blows before a person got close.

Where humans come out ahead

Humans are built for stamina rather than power. Our ancestors probably hunted by tracking prey over long distances instead of overpowering it.

One feat of strength does favor us. Walking upright freed our arms, and the way our shoulders and hips let the upper body rotate quickly means we throw faster and farther than any other ape, even trained ones.

A chimp might lob faeces at zoo visitors, but no non-human ape can propel a javelin 100m. The same anatomy may also let us punch hard. Scientists have calculated that a heavyweight boxer's closed fist lands a blow equal to a 6kg wooden mallet swung at 20mph (32kph).

Small monkey, big bite

Size is not everything among primates. Tufted capuchins, South American monkeys no bigger than a small domestic cat, have oversized jaw muscles that power a bite able to crack nuts and seeds other similar-sized monkeys cannot open.

Their arms are also surprisingly strong. Capuchins wield rocks as hammers to break into food too hard for their teeth, a rare example of tool use among South American monkeys.