Science Sunday: Our Closest Primate Relatives, Chimps & Bonobos

By: Meradeth Houston on 12:56 PM

Hi everyone! I've survived most of my midterm-grading fest this week, and only have two more to go :) They're sitting here on my desk, my green grading pen on top, and I pretty much have no interest in plowing through them. Maybe after I write a few blog posts...

Anyhow, I thought I'd delve into some more Apes today! I'm no primatologist, but for my intro to Physical Anthropology class we hit on the study of monkeys and apes so I thought I'd talk a little bit about our closest relatives: the Chimpanzees. This includes both the chimp and its sister specie, the bonobo. They share ~98% of our DNA with us (though, keep in mind, we share something like ~33% of our DNA with dandelions, so it's all relative). They are really interesting species, especially in how their social structure is so vastly different.

The classic chimp is the most robust of the two, and has a larger habitat. There are some physical features that separate it from the bonobo, but I'll avoid getting too technical. What I really want to discuss is the fact that their society is structured around male relationships. Those are the most important, and males are the dominant individuals. The females and their kids congregate with food, but are often alone, and ruled over by the males, especially the top male (dominant male) of the group.

They can also be really violent. The males often patrol the boundaries of their territory, and if they come across any males from other groups, they will hunt him down and kill them. Beating up on other members of their group, including the females, is happens. It's not exactly a society I'd be all that happy living in as a woman :) Don't get me wrong, they can also be very sweet and kind, but they're structured a lot like something out of the dark ages.

Bonobos are the more gracile of the two, with longer limbs and more daring arboreal acrobatics. They also have very strong female relationships, more so than male-male relationships. They have a top female and male in their groups, and the best way for males to gain favor is to groom or do favors for the top female.

The other thing about bonobos is that they really like to get it on. (Imagine talking about this to a classroom full of freshmen--it always leads to everyone being *wide* awake!) There are no concerns for who they're doing it with, with plenty of F-F fun going on. This is how they diffuse tension, gain favor, and get along in general. Really, their society is built around getting along with love not war. Violence is rare and muted. It is so very different and regularly makes me think of the 1960's in terms of the way things work :)

I think I'd much rather be a bonobo! The interesting thing to think about is that we are equally related to both of these species--one with lots of violence and one with lots of loving and little violence. There has been much speculation as to what these species each contributed to us today--is it in our nature to be more violent or more peaceful? We are equally related to both of these species, so its hard to tell, but I think it's fascinating!