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Our Nearest Relatives: Bonobos and Chimpanzees

What we share with our nearest surviving relatives, the male-centered chimpanzee and the female-centered, erotic, and peaceable bonobo. How that understanding helps shape who we are vs. who we think we are.

Our Nearest Relatives: Bonobos and Chimpanzees

A frontal facial portrait of a bonobo.

Bonobos and Chimpanzees

About 5.5 million years ago the human line of descent split from the ancestor we share with chimps and the lesser-known bonobos. 98.7% of our DNA is exactly the same as theirs. Are we more like the aggressive chimp or the peaceful bonobo?
A bonobo using a makeshift stick or twig to remove ants from an ant hill.

Human Traits in Our Nearest Relatives

All animals adapt, develop and diversify over time to ensure their species’ survival, so it’s not surprising that we share characteristics with our nearest relatives. Some of these are less well known, and quite surprising.
A frontal facial portrait of a bonobo.

Bonobos and Chimpanzees

About 5.5 million years ago the human line of descent split from the ancestor we share with chimps and the lesser-known bonobos. 98.7% of our DNA is exactly the same as theirs. Are we more like the aggressive chimp or the peaceful bonobo?
A bonobo using a makeshift stick or twig to remove ants from an ant hill.

Human Traits in Our Nearest Relatives

All animals adapt, develop and diversify over time to ensure their species’ survival, so it’s not surprising that we share characteristics with our nearest relatives. Some of these are less well known, and quite surprising.

Further Reading

External Stories and Videos

Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan

Active self-treatment of a facial wound with a biologically active plant by a male Sumatran orangutan

www.nature.com

Although self-medication in non-human animals is often difficult to document systematically due to the difficulty of predicting its occurrence, there is widespread evidence of such behaviors.

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