Buffy Silverman - Bonobos

High-pitched screeches fill the forest. A group of bonobos chatters as the animalsgather fruit from trees. While some of them eat, others extend their hands to begfor food. The bonobos share their meal.

Bonobos are primates. Primates are a group of mammals that includes monkeys, apes,and humans. Lemurs, lorises, bush babies, and tarsiers are primates, too. There aremore than 350 different kinds of primates.

This map shows where in the world non-human primates live.

Like all mammals, primates have fur and produce milk for their babies to drink. Theygive birth to live babies and care for their young. They breathe air and keep a constant,warm body temperature.

Many primates live in trees. Instead of paws, primates have hands and feet. Theirfive-fingered hands are useful for gripping tree branches. Touch the thumb of yourright hand to the fingers of your right hand. It is easy, isnt it? You can do thisbecause, like many primates, you have opposable thumbs .

Opposable thumbs allow primates to pick up objects. Primates can grab food with theirhands and put it in their mouths. They can feel different objects with their sensitivefingertips. Most primates grip with their feet, too. Their big toes are like thumbs,helping them to climb and grasp.

These bonobos are playing with their keeper at a sanctuary in the Democratic Republicof the Congo, in Africa.

Primates have other adaptations that allow them to make good use of their hands andfeet. Instead of claws, primates have flat nails on their thumbs. Some have nailson all their fingers and toes. This allows them to pick up objects more easily thanthey could with clawed fingers.

Primates can twist their hands and feet in many directions. Two bones in their lowerarms and legs allow them to do this. Many animals, such as dogs and cats, walk ontheir toes. Primates walk on flat feet. They can stand and walk upright.

This spider monkey uses its muscular tail like a fifth hand. It grabs fruits withits hands while it hangs by its tail.

Primates have forward-facing eyes and excellent depth perception. This means thatthey can see three-dimensional (3D) shapes and can judge distances. Primates knowhow far to reach for the next branch because of their depth perception. They dependmore on their sense of sight than on their sense of smell. Because primates relyless on their sense of smell than other mammals, they have smaller, flattened noses.

Primates are intelligent, large-brained animals. They often live together in groups.They protect their young and teach them the skills they will need as adults. Youngprimates take a long time to grow up. While they are growing, they depend on theirmothers for food and protection. Primates grow up slowly, but they live for a longtime.

This silverback gorilla is foraging for food on the ground. He has found a tastypiece of bamboo.

What Are Bonobos?

It is hard not to be reminded of people when you watch bonobos. They pout, grin,and make funny faces. They tickle each other and laugh. They use facial expressionsand hand gestures to communicate.

Along with chimpanzees, bonobos are our closest relatives. They share more than 98percent of their genes with people.

This is a family of bonobos, including adults, young, and infants.

The unknown ape

Scientists once thought that bonobos were chimpanzees. However, although they doresemble each other, there are many differences. A bonobos body is more slender.It has red lips and a darker face. Its head is smaller, with smaller ears, a thinnerneck, and narrower shoulders. With their long legs, bonobos can stand more uprightthan chimps. Scientists think their posture resembles Australopithecus , an earlyhuman ancestor.

HAROLD COOLIDGE

In 1929 Harold Coolidge was studying a skull in a museum. It had been labeled asa young chimpanzee. Coolidge saw that the skull was from an adult, and that it wastoo small for a chimp. He realized that bonobos must be a separate species . In 1933they were recognized as separate.

This mother and baby are chimpanzees. Can you see how they look different from thebonobos on page ?

How Are Bonobos Classified?

When scientists classify living things, they place them in groups. Members of a groupare related to one another and share certain characteristics. For example, you havemore things in common with mammals than you do with animals in other groups, suchas birds or fish.

Mammals are divided into many smaller groups. One of these groups is primates. Primatesare further divided into six groups: lemurs; lorises, pottos, and bush babies; tarsiers;New World monkeys; Old World monkeys; and apes. Bonobos are a kind of ape.

Meet the apes

Within the apes, there are six more groups. These groups are gibbons, gorillas, chimpanzees,bonobos, humans, and orangutans. Gibbons belong to a group called the lesser apes.Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, humans, and orangutans form the group known as thegreat apes. Orangutans split off from other great apes about 12 to 15 million yearsago. Later, gorillas became a separate group. The group that was left eventuallysplit off into three: humans, bonobos, and chimpanzees.

BONOBO RELATIVES

For thousands of years, people living in the forests of the Congo in Africa haverespected and loved bonobos. They used to tell stories about how bonobos and peoplewere once brothers.

About 5 to 8 million years ago, humans became a separate group. Bonobos and chimpanzeesdivided into two species more recently. Some scientists think this occurred between690,000 and 900,000 years ago. Others say it may have been 1.8 million years ago.The Congo River in Africa, which formed about 1.5 million years ago, may have separatedthe two groups. The river still keeps bonobos and chimpanzees apart.

This diagram shows how primates have evolved into different groups.

Where Do Bonobos Live?

A habitat is the place where an animal lives. Bonobos are found in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo, in Africa, in a region called the Congo Basin. Three riversborder their habitat: the Congo River to the north and west; the Kasai River to thesouth; and the Lualaba River to the east. Many rivers run through the Basin, separatingthe various populations of bonobos.