Due to their close evolutionary relationship to humans, chimpanzees and bonobos have been widely studied and used as models for the behavior of early hominids. In recent years, new information regarding the social behaviors and ecology of bonobos has come to light, and this has warranted many interspecific comparisons between bonobos and chimpanzees: “Chimpanzees have been characterized in terms of their intercommunity warfare, meat eating, infanticide, cannibalism, male status-striving, and dominance over females. Bonobos, meanwhile, have been portrayed as the ‘Make love, not war’ ape, characterized by female power-sharing, a lack of aggression between either individuals or groups, richly elaborated sexual behavior that occurs without the constraint of a narrow window of fertility, and the use of sex for communicative purposes” (Stanford 399). Over the course of this paper, I will provide evidence for the dichotomy between these two species, with particular attention to the histories of their research, the nature of their social interactions, as well as their sexual behaviors.
Molecular studies indicate that humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos are very closely related in terms of their lineage, which split into hominid and Pan lines about 6-7 million years ago. Chimpanzees and bonobos share a more recent common ancestry, only about 2-2.5 million years ago. Although they are now considered an endangered species, chimpanzees are extremely successful creatures ecologically and can occupy a wide range of habitats across the African continent near the equator. By contrast, bonobos can be found in a substantially more ecologically restricted region of lowland rain forest in central Zaire (Stanford 399). For the purposes of our ...
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... various meat eating habits. The consumption of meat is well documented in the case of chimpanzees and has been considered a systematic facet of chimpanzee behavior: “Chimpanzees incorporate the meat of hunted mammals in their diet…Chimpanzees probably hunt for both nutritional and political reasons in that alliances are cemented by the giving of meat. They also appear to obtain meat for sociosexual benefits in that males sometimes offer meat to females and receive matings in the process” (Stanford 404-405). As compared to chimpanzees, the consumption of meat within bonobo populations is considered rare. If male chimpanzees hunt for meat to fulfill political and sociosexual needs rather than nutritional ones, then male bonobos might be less interested in hunting for meat for several reasons. Firstly, the manipulative use of meat observed in male chimpanzees
In his peer-reviewed article, “Sexing fossils: a boy named Lucy?,” James Shreeve discusses, in detail, a study on sexual dimorphism and possible speciation in Australopithecines in Hadar, Ethiopia, based on the famous A. afarensis specimen, “Lucy.” In the article, “Lucy’s kind takes humanlike turn,” the author addresses sexual dimorphism and speculates on sex-based differences in behaviors in A. afarensis. The two articles have differences and commonalities with each other in content and both present research methods and conclusions on topics including sexual dimorphism, sex-based behaviors, and speciation in Australopithecines, which receive critical analysis.
There are contrasts in tool kits used by different groups of chimpanzees, which seem to be a result of the environment in which they live as well as information that is shared by the group. For example, in 1973 it was reported that chimpanzees in Gombe did not use hammer stones, but those of Cape Palmas did. We will explore the tool use of Chimpanzees from the wild, including Gombe, Tai National Forest, and the Congo Basin---and contrast those with Chimpanzees in captivity in locations of Zoo’s both in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Goodall is a well-known British primatologist who has discovered a substantial amount about primates in her many years of research. She has written numerous books, including one that we will be going into depth about called, “Through a Window.” Her book contains personal experiences, research findings, and even pictures to help the readers visualize her scientific breaking moments from her thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. She states that there is are minor differences, and several similarities between humans and the chimpanzees. We will discuss these differences and similarities through their social behavior, intellectual ability, and emotions. To conclude, examine Goodall’s research to adopt what her findings can tell us about our early ancestors, and whether or not her study coincided to the steps of scientific methodology.
Starting with chimpanzees, which have been observed on multiple occasions to kill infants, though most of these killings are directed at other groups of chimps [1]. This has been observed on multiple occasions, and would often include cannibalizing the infant [1]. It has also been observed that females who have had their child killed will occasionally join the group that killed it, and allow to be copulated with [1]. Though admittedly from the article, they were not absolutely confident in whether every female that had an infant killed was from an outside group [1]. This infanticide seems to be more of a result of warfare and conflict, rather than of outright greater fitness to individual chimps, however it does occasionally lead to a new female in the group [1]. This both lowers the reproductive success of their rivals, which allows them to exploit their rivals lesser numbers and increase territory. One thing that sets chimps apart from the other primates that are going to be mentioned is tha...
Although the practice of collecting animals have been present since 2500 B.C (Dunlap and Kellert), efforts to keep animals in a safe and natural habitat have been poorly consummated. Psychological manipulation has consequentially drawn chimpanzees to mental illness, as in the article “How Abnormal Is the Behavior of Captive, Zoo-Living Chimpanzees?” Lucy P. Birkett and Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher wrote, “Many chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) kept in laboratory housing settings show a variety of serious behavioral abnormalities, such as, repetitive rocking, drinking of urine, or self-mutilation.” Social and maternal separation for the benifit of reasearch are linked to psychological traumatic as well (Dunlap and Kellert). Although through history the service of zoos have been for entertainment, it is a trivial reason for holding chimpanzees in confidment. Subsequently, it is inhumane to take primates from the wild and place them in a zoo, commercial, or laboratory setting, which strips them of their ability to act naturally.
Rollin, Bernard E.. “The Ascent of Apes — Broadening the Moral Community”. In The Great Ape Project. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1993. pp.206-219.
Thesis Statement: Despite the rampant protests of animal welfare organizations on encaging primates in zoos since primates typically show abnormal behavior, zoos in the National Capital Region claim that human interaction and enrichment programs help alleviate the stress and trauma primates experience.
Quiatt, D., & Reynolds, V. (1993). Primate behaviour: information, social knowledge, and the evolution of culture. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press].
It has been believed that culture is unique to humans and no other groups of animals have culture, but recent evidence refutes this ideology. Before getting into the meat of the argument, it is important to first address the issues regarding the ambiguity of the term, “culture.” What is culture? Many scientists may argue that culture is the way of life for a group of individuals, this definition includes the values, beliefs and traditions of the group (Sapolsky, 2006). Other scientists may argue that culture is the transmission of habits and information by social means (Sapolsky, 2006). Despite the different specifics of what culture is, almost all scientists would agree that culture is transmitted socially through social learning that promotes the transfer of information between members in a group (Boesch and Tomasello, 1998). Based on these notions of culture, it can be justifiably stated that primates have culture. Primates exhibit food preparation techniques, use of tools, communication skills, and most importantly, behaviors of social learning. An exemplar of primates’ capabilities for culture is Koko, the lowland gorilla. Koko, in captivity, was able to learn American sign language, demonstrate self-awareness and the ability to deceive.
Overall, chimps have a smaller brain size, humans have greater intellectual abilities, and the bodies between chimps and humans are different. However, despite these differences, chimps and humans have similar chromosome patterns. According to the authors, “...chimp and human chromosomes can be paired up such that each human chromosome has a corresponding chimp chromosome.” Humans and chimps also have a similar nucleotide pattern in their DNA. The authors then go on to discuss the changes that occurred along the human and chimp lineage and they came up with three separate scenarios. The first scenario is that humans have evolved more since the split. The second scenario is that more evolutionary change has taken place in the chimp lineage and the third scenario is that the amount of evolutionary change between humans and chimps has actually been equal since the split. It is believed that human and chimps immune systems and reproductive functions were evolutionary changes that took place in order for them to
According to National Geographic, scientists have sequenced the genome factor of the chimpanzee and found that humans are 98.5% similar to the ape species. The chimpanzee is our closest relative in the animal kingdom; however, some people are not aware of our resembling traits with chimpanzees. Jane Goodall’s, In the Shadow of Man, describes some similar traits humans and chimpanzees have such as their facial expressions and emotions, use of tools, and diet.
Our earliest ancestors are primates. They are our closest relatives which is why we can see our behavior’s and practices in them. If we observe them we can get a better understanding of them and us, human beings. But unfortunately we all don’t get the chance to see a Primate right in our backdoor. So the best thing I could do for my observation was to visit them at the zoo.
I observed chimpanzees in the Kimberly-Clark Chimpanzee Forest exhibit at the Dallas zoo. These African apes, like humans, are hominoids and fall into the larger category of catarrhines. Their scientific classification is Pan troglodytes. There were about ten chimpanzees in that habitat. Most of them were grown adults, except two children. They were robust and had black fur. The average weight of the chimps was listed on a display to be about 115 pounds.
The idea that humans could possibly have evolved from apes was thought impossible until about 150 years. Charles Darwin, an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contribution to evolutionary theory, stated “humans evolved from an apelike ancestor” (1). Still after Darwin’s theories, many people still doubted the chances of this being true. Just in the past decade have scientists reached a general agreement about the evolutionary relationships between humans and apes. DNA evidence indicates that chimps and bonobos are more closely related to humans than they are to gorillas! Technically humans are a kind of great ape, and that is why throughout the article Smuts will refer to apes as forest apes.
In his lecture, primatologist Robert Sapolsky explains the uniqueness of humans as well as our similarities to other primates. In doing so, he broke it down into six points of interest: aggression, theory of mind, the golden rule, empathy, pleasure in anticipation and gratification postponement, and lastly, culture. Professor Sapolsky approaches each point with interesting fact-based examples thus allowing me to gain insight on humans and other primates. Sapolsky’s knowledge of primates along with his scientific background allows him to make a clear argument that one cannot simply ignore.