About
Please note: A more in depth, original section about both the Common Chimpanzee and Bonobos is coming soon. The information below is from Wikipedia and will do until I can write something myseld.
Chimpanzees
Chimpanzee, often shortened to chimp, is the common name for the two extant species in the genus Pan. The better known chimpanzee is Pan troglodytes, the Common Chimpanzee, living primarily in West, and Central Africa. Its cousin, the Bonobo or "Pygmy Chimpanzee" as it is known archaically, Pan paniscus, is found in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo River forms the boundary between the two species. Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans.
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Common Chimpanzee
Common Chimpanzees are found in the tropical forests and wet savannas of Western and Central Africa. They once inhabited most of this region, but their habitat has been dramatically reduced in recent years.
Adults in the wild weigh between 40 and 65 kg (88 and 143 lb); males can measure up to 160 cm (63 inches) and females to 130 cm (51 inches), and although lighter than humans they have a pull five to six times stronger This is because the muscles of chimpanzees and other primates are far more effective than those of humans.Their bodies are covered by a coarse dark brown hair, except for the face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Both their thumbs and their big toes are opposable, allowing a precision grip. Their gestation period is eight months. Infants are weaned when they are about three years old, but usually maintain a close relationship with their mother for several more years; they reach puberty at the age of eight to ten, and their lifespan in captivity is about fifty years.
Although omnivores, their diet is mainly vegetarian, consisting of fruits, leaves, nuts, seeds, tubers, and miscellaneous plantlife, supplemented by insects and small prey. There are also instances of organized hunting; in some cases, such as the killing of leopard cubs, this primarily seems to be a protective effort, since leopards are the main natural predators of chimps. However, Common Chimpanzees sometimes band together and hunt Western Red Colobus monkeys (Piliocolobus badius) for their meat. Isolated cases of cannibalism have been documented. Chimpanzees have also been known on rare occasions to attack and eat human infants.
The West African Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) is the only animal besides humans known to routinely create and use specialized tools specifically for hunting. Chimpanzees near Kedougou, Senegal were observed to create spears by breaking off tree limbs, stripping them of their bark, sharpening one end with their teeth. They then used these weapons to kill galagos sleeping in hollows.
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Bonobo/Pygmy Chimpanzee
German anatomist Ernst Schwarz is credited with having discovered the Bonobo in 1928, based on his analysis of a skull in the Tervuren museum in Belgium that had been thought to have belonged to a juvenile chimpanzee. Schwarz published his findings in 1929. In 1933, American anatomist Harold Coolidge offered a more detailed description of the Bonobo, and elevated it to species status. The species is distinguished by an upright gait, a matriarchal culture, and the prominent role of sexual activity in their society.
The Bonobo is more gracile (slight in form) than the Common Chimpanzee. Its head is smaller than that of the Common Chimpanzee, but has a higher forehead. It has a black face with pink lips, small ears, wide nostrils, and long hair on its head. Females have slightly more prominent breasts in contrast to the flat breasts of other female apes, though not as prominent as those of humans. The Bonobo also has a slim upper body, narrow shoulders, thin neck, and long legs compared with the Common Chimpanzee. The Bonobo walks upright about 25% of the time during ground locomotion. These characteristics, and its posture, gives the Bonobo a more human-like appearance than that of the Common Chimpanzee (see: bipedal bonobos). Moreover, the Bonobo has highly individuated facial features, as humans do, so that one individual can look significantly different from another, adapted for visual recognition in social interaction.
Frans de Waal, one of the world's leading primatologists, states that the Bonobo is often capable of altruism, compassion, empathy, kindness, patience and sensitivity.
Recent observations in the wild have seemed to indicate that the males among the Common Chimpanzee troops are extraordinarily hostile to males from outside of the troop. Parties are organized to 'patrol' for the unfortunate males who might be living nearby in a solitary state. (Some researchers have suggested, however, that this behaviour has been caused by a combination of human contact and interference and massive environmental stress caused by deforestation and a corresponding range reduction.) This does not appear to be the behavior of the Bonobo males or females, both of which seem to prefer sexual contact with their group, rather than violent confrontation with outsiders. The Bonobo lives in different areas from the more aggressive Common Chimpanzee. Possibly the Bonobo has given a wide berth to its more violent and stronger cousins. Neither of the species swim, and they sometimes inhabit ranges on opposite sides of the great rivers. Bonobos are supposed to live a more peaceful lifestyle in part because of their habitat, which has more nutritional vegetation, allowing less hunting, less competition, and a social outlet of eating.
Bonobos, at least in captivity, are sometimes held to have superior intelligence to Common Chimpanzees.