Chimpanzee Facts
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The human connection, (recent DNA research, for example, concluded that humans and chimpanzees share a 96% similar DNA structure), translates into enthusiasm for chimpanzee research.
Consequently, an abundance of available bonobo and chimpanzee information, some of which is more factual and useful than others is readily available on the Internet.
This article briefly summarizes some general knowledge about the species, and it is followed by a list of articles that provide additional, peer reviewed, bonobo and chimpanzee facts.
Common Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), inhabit many of the ecosystems, including tropical forests, dry forests and grasslands, in their Equatorial Africa home range.
Bonobos (Pan paniscus), inhabit the rain forests immediately to the south, across the Zaire river, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Their close taxonomic association leads to many behavioral similarities, three of which are listed below:
- Male philopatric societies: males are born into, and remain in, a territorially bound society throughout their lives. Females tend to transit between groups.
- Frugivore dietary preferences: both species are fruit eaters, although their diets are supplemented by local plant and animal life, including insects.
- Arboreal sleepers: both species build tree nests for day time naps and night time sleeping in order to avoid the local ground predators.
Despite their similarities, the chimpanzees and bonobos also display striking physical and social differences.
Chimpanzee society often gets classified as a complex, patriarchy, prone to intergroup and intragroup episodes of violent aggression.
Follow up studies also note chimpanzee tool use and learning along with other behaviors such as a sense of humor and reconciliation or intragroup empathy for chimpanzees subject to aggressive treatment.
Like their relatives the chimpanzees, bonobos also live in a complex social structure. Unlike the chimpanzees, bonobo social structures are characterized by a mixed matriarchy and patriarchy, comparatively less aggression and comparatively greater non-reproductive sexual activity.
The IUCN lists both species as endangered due to habitat loss, poaching for bush meat and the pet trade and the increased risk of human spread diseases within chimpanzee populations.
- Correlates of territorial boundary patrol behaviour in wild chimpanzees
- Chimpanzees in the Ntakata and Kakungu Areas, Tanzania
- Chimpanzee Feeding Ecology and Comparisons with Gorillas in the Republic of the Congo
- Innovation in Wild Chimpanzees
- Relationship Between Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Density and Large, Fleshy-Fruit Tree Density
- Recent Developments in the Study of Wild Chimpanzee Behavior
- Ecological and social influences on the hunting behaviour of wild chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii
- Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Behavioral Responses to Stresses Associated With Living in a Savanna-Mosaic Environment: Implications for Hominin Adaptations to Open Habitats
- Dominance, aggression and testosterone in wild chimpanzees: a test of the 'challenge hypothesis'
- Relationship Between Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Density and Large, Fleshy-Fruit Tree Density
- Behaviroal Diversity in Chimpanzees and Bonobos
- The Social Behavior of Chimpanzees and Bonobos
- Party Size in Chimpanzees and Bonobos
- Divergent risk preferences in chimpanzees and bonobos
- Primate hunting by bonobos at LuiKotale, Salonga National Park
- Tolerance Allows Bonobos to Outperform Chimpanzees on a Cooperative Task
- Bonobos have a more human-like second-to-fourth finger length ratio (2D:4D) than chimpanzees: a hypothesized indication of lower prenatal androgens
- Comparing Maternal Styles in Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)
- Female Feeding Priority in Bonobos, Pan paniscus, and the Question of Female Dominance
- Urinary Testosterone Levels of Wild Male Bonobos (Pan paniscus) in the Lomako Forest, Democratic Republic of Congo
- A Comparison of Tool Using Behaviour between Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and Bonobos (Pan paniscus)
- Testosterone and Behavior in Bonobos
© 2010 Patricia A. Michaels.