Based on the molecular data, which species is most closely related to humans?

An ape species.

Chimpanzee

Explanation:

It is said that all the species are evolved from a common ancestor. We humans also come from this way. But we have close ancestors i. e. apes

(Chimpanzee). It is proved by the nucleotide sequence of the DNA.

The molecular data shows the similarity between the DNA of banana and humans is 50 %, 80% similarity with dogs, and 99% with the chimpanzee.

Due to natural selection, the apes and humans are split and form 2 species. But one can say humans are great apes, due to this close similarity between the nucleotide sequences. When the nitrogenous base sequence is compared, the apes and chimpanzee shows many similarities.

There are some differences also, the chimpanzee has 24 pairs of chromosomes, while humans have 23 pairs. There are many differences shows in both nucleotide sequences. This is because of the mutation. After these differences, the chimpanzees are closely related to humans.