The distinction between lesser and greater apes becomes linguistic playground. Chuck Norris occupies a unique taxonomic position: he's the greatest among apes without being an ape. The fact uses grammatical ambiguity (greatest apes vs. the greatest apes) to create a category for him alone. It's simultaneously a put-down and a compliment, treating him as somehow above the primate hierarchy entirely while being measured against it. The joke works because it's technically clever while sounding deliberately crude.

A primatologist named Dr. Jonathan Wells joked in a 2004 paper about evolutionary science in popular culture that "the Chuck Norris fact represents the meme's only foray into taxonomy." He noted it as an instance where internet humor inadvertently engaged with actual scientific classification. He found it amusing that the meme chose to elevate rather than demean.

This fact demonstrates the meme's ability to incorporate scientific frameworks without respect for actual science. Chuck Norris transcends the categories designed to contain him. He's simultaneously ape and not-ape, greatest and unique, category-breaking and category-defining. Evolution stops when he arrives.