Bonobo, Our Closest Relative

Bonobos can be found throughout central African forests south of the Congo River. These dense rainforests feature swamp forests with an underlying thin peat layer.

Bonobos, like chimpanzees, are social animals who form strong relationships among their group members. But unlike their great ape counterparts, bonobos tend to form less aggressive and egalitarian relationships than chimps do.

Origins

Bonobo is the stage name of British producer Simon Green. Since 2010, Bonobo has steadily built a fan base through six albums and tours under this moniker, boasting mesmeric melodies and beats that induce trance-inducing melodies and mesmeric beats that have earned him recognition from audiences at such venues as Alexandra Palace, Glastonbury Festival and Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

The last common ancestor between chimpanzees and bonobos lived during the early Pleistocene. Bonobos differ from chimpanzees by moving quadrupedally and possessing tool use capabilities.

KyotoU scientists conducted an experiment in Georgia by teaching Panbanisha the bonobo to use high-pitched vocalizations and gestures called lexigrams for communication – this enabled her to make statements instead of simply imitating or repeating other sounds like other captive great apes would do in previous studies.

Habitat

Bonobos inhabit remote and dense forest regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although this species is rare, its existence has been negatively impacted by war and conflict in their habitat, as well as poaching for bushmeat poaching for bushmeat hunting for bushmeat hunting and agriculture logging and agriculture activities. Lacking accessible study sites as well as their shy nature prevent researchers from fully studying their natural environments.

Vocalizations from birds of prey range from calls and alarm to the soft coo of newborns, while females play an integral part in group dynamics, taking charge and maintaining lifelong bonds with their sons. Males don’t emigrate into new groups but stay with their mother’s party instead, earning them the name “mummy’s boys”.

As is often the case for great apes, bonobos are hunted and killed for the pet trade or bushmeat consumption. Friends of Bonobos is committed to engaging local communities in conservation through its program Ekolo ya Bonobo in order to ensure long-term protection of bonobos and their forest home.

Diet

Bonobos are adept climbers and spend much of their time searching for food in the trees. Their diet typically consists of leaves, stems, roots and fruit from various fig, Dialium and pancovia species (Fig 2).

Bonobos also eat meat; one 2019 study demonstrated that bonobos in Lomako Forest consumed and shared Weyn’s duikers (a small forest-dwelling antelope) at rates similar to chimpanzees.

Hair samples show low temporal variability of d15N due to limited dependence on fruits as a source of nutrition in this forest-savannah mosaic, consistent with studies indicating adolescent males are less likely than adult females to receive preferred foods due to competition for food sources.

Behavior

At a time when women are searching for equality, science provides a timely gift: bonobos – our closest relatives – provide evidence that females played a predominant role in our evolutionary ancestors’ lives. Bonobos live in groups consisting of multiple male and multiple female fission-fusion individuals that break off into smaller parties of 30 to 80 individuals who travel between feeding sites and sleep nests made out of bent tree branches.

Bonobos are less aggressive than their common chimpanzee cousins and may use sexual behavior as a form of consolation in conflicts or for defusing tension, such as exchanging food. Females also use genital rubbing as an affiliative behavior.

Socialization

Bonobos differ from their close relatives in being less aggressive toward members of their own group and more willing to tolerate non-members by sharing food and incurring costs to help strangers.

Bonobos are so committed to their aid that their dedication can sometimes go too far. When researchers introduce new materials such as boxes into their enclosure, it’s not unusual for the bonobos to mount each other before playing with it–an act which would likely cause disputes between other species.

Bonobos in one experiment were shown an animated character attempting and failing to reach the summit of a hill, then given a choice between receiving rewards from either an obstructionist or helper; bonobos preferred receiving theirs from hinderers indicating they’re sensitive to social hierarchies.