BONOBO

1. BONOBO

2. General Information • Location: Democratic Republic of Congo • Between the Walaba and Sankuru Rivers • Gestation: 8 months • Doesn’t mean that they’re pumpin’ out babies on the reg • Height: Males—2.4-2.7 ft Females—2.3-2.5 ft • Males are bigger, that means that they dominate, right? • Weight: Males—86 lb Females—68 lb *Fun Fact* The word “bonobo” means absolutely nothing. So if you thought it was science mumbo-jumbo like the rest of those animal names, you were dead wrong.

3. Females have more prominent breasts than other apes • Bone structure is more similar to humans than any other primate • Still not as prominent as humans • 99.5% of their DNA is identical to humans • Particularly the placement of the foreman magnum • Bonobo Human • Bipedal locomotion has been seen rarely in the wild • But not quite so rarely in captivity

4. Social Structure • They live in a large community that is then divided into smaller groups • The group of the Bonobos is very mixed, young will associate with adults of either sex unlike many other ape groups. • Relationships between females are one of the most important links within the bonobo society  • Females gain more rank as they mature • There is a scale for male rank but it is much smaller and bonded in many ways to their mother  • For a male to achieve "alpha status" he must become associated with the alpha female 

5. Social Structure • Low levels of aggression  • Disputes are most commonly controlled by sexual relations • Aggressor very rarely re-attack once they have been together  • "The majority of mounts and matings occur in tense situations.” “Conflict resolution is the more fundamental and pervasive function of Bonobo sex." Sex in Bonobo society is definitively a mechanism for keeping the peace.  

6. Sexual/Mating Habits • Sex transcends reproduction, as it does in humans - serves as a way of bonding, exchanging energy, and sharing pleasure • seen in all aspects of life of bonobos • Function to keep the society together, and maintain peaceful, cooperative relations • conflict can be eased by sexual activity • also engage in same-sex encounters • males tend to be polite and not vehement in their demands - ask the female first - non-aggressive manner - female has option of refusing a male

7. Intelligence • Bonobos are highly intelligent, emotional, and sensitive creatures. • Bonobos are also capable of passing the mirror-recognition test for self-awareness. They communicate through vocal means and understand facial expressions, and hand gestures.

8. INTELLIGENCE Kanzi—a 26 year old male Bonobo that is able to converse with humans. • Can use 348 symbols and learned meaning of up to 3000 spoken English words. • The symbols refer to familiar objects (yogurt, key, tummy, bowl), favored activities (chase, tickle), and even some concepts considered fairly abstract (now, bad). • Learned to combine these symbols in regular ways, or in what linguists call"proto-grammar.” • Once, Savage-Rumbaugh says, on an outing in a forest by the Georgia State University laboratory where he was raised, Kanzi touched the symbols for"marshmallow"and"fire."Given matches and marshmallows, Kanzi snapped twigs for a fire, lit them with the matches and toasted the marshmallows on a stick. Video of Kanzi conversing with humans - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dhc2zePJFE

9. DIETS • Fruit and terrestrial herbaceous vegetation (THV) and meat • THV is considered leaves, shoots, flowers, and pith • Also eat invertebrates and small vertebrates • Their diet is somewhere between chimps and gorillas based on what is consumed the most (fruits, THV, and meat) • Utilize over 110 species of plants as food sources • Preference fruit • THV eaten for protein content • Eat insects, mollusks, squirrels, snakes, fish, shrimp

10. SOCIAL HABITS/BEHAVIORS • Social habits and behaviors • Territories are defended by strongly male-philopatric kin groups • Foraging parties are much larger than chimpanzees • Females emigrate from their natal communities at sexual maturity and establish themselves in neighboring-community ranges • New females form bonds with one female at a time until they are able to be central in their new communities • Older females are more high ranking • Males are strongly philopatric • No territorial aggression like in chimps • Communities exist more peacefully than chimps but not completely • As bonobo party sizes increase the percentage of the party that is male also increases

11. References Rafert, J. and E.O. Vineberg (1997) Bonobo Nutrition – relation of captive diet to wild diet. In: BonoboHusbandry Manual American Association of Zoos and Aquariums Stanford, C. B. (1998). The Social Behavior of Chimpanzees and Bonobos, Emperical Evidence and Shifting assumptions. Current Anthropology Vol39.4 http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/speakingbonobo.htmlhttp://www.bonobo.org/http://www.unl.edu/rhames/bonobo/bonobo.htm http://www.zoosociety.org/conservation/Bonobo/WhatIs.php http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/bonobo/behav http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/primates.html