Kinship and Social Bonds in Female Chimpanzees

Despite a lack of scientific academic education, Jane Goodall’s work on the chimpanzees made revolutionary breakthrough in the field of understanding chimpanzee behavior. It was all made possible by her firm belief on her unconventional methods which academics in the field eyed with cynicism and felt was pointless. Such pessimistic outlook on her efforts from established academics did not blight her morale; instead she carried on with her methods of analyzing the chimpanzee population with full enthusiasm and self belief.

This study now proves that chimpanzees have an inherent system for genes and one for culture. These results have increased the processes looked at when examining a chimpanzees gene frequencies and phenotypic characteristics. Chimpanzees behavior may be culturally learned which changes their whole evolution. Learning more about chimpanzees and their evolution in culture can help us understand our evolution in culture. Scientists have been looking into how these behaviors are adapted between communities, they found that males stay in their natal community which means females are the ones who bring new behaviors to the group. Though there is still debate on how this exactly happens. Most new females who bring their natal group behavior into their new group will not be replicated. Some females drop their natal group behaviors completely when entering a new group, but there are some behaviors that make it through to other chimpanzees causing them to be socially learned. Lycett, Collard, And McGrew state that there needs to be more research on this subject because the integration of chimpanzee behavior is so

Goodall, J. (1971). In the Shadow of Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. The author’s goal in writing this book is to discuss her experiences and what she had learned from studying wild Chimpanzees. Goodall wrote this book in order to convey her knowledge of a species of animal she loves very much, so that others may become educated and join her in protecting them. She dreamed of going to Africa to see them, and was offered a job by Dr. Lewis Leakey. Goodall wanted nothing more than a chance to help. Her experiences in surrounding herself with them have completely changed the way scientists conduct field research. Whether she intended to or not, the data she has collected has debunked myths and uncovered truths about chimpanzees, while bringing more light to human behavior.

Within this essay, we will study more in depth the behavioral as well as physical traits of two primates at a zoo from their interaction with their peers to their place in the group. This observation would enable us to further understand the possible existing correlation between humans and primates. First, I studied a female chimpanzee with her baby, and then, a dominant male gorilla, in San Francisco Zoo at about noon, on May 23, 2015, for an hour each. Even though they share some similarities such as having a large brain, living for a long time, and being bored in their enclosure, they are still different; when gorillas are the largest, chimpanzees are the smartest. In fact, chimps use tools to catch food, they would not be able to reach

1. The social structure and behavior of chimps in their communities or troops suggest many questions. What research questions might Dr. Hahn and her associates ask?

This paper aims to study the traits of non-human primates. By observing two types of primates including Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) and Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorillas), I try to find out their characteristics, pattern of their behavior, and differences between these two primate species. Especially, characteristics and behavior such as social interaction, food acquisition and intelligence will be discussed and compared in this paper. In order to enhance the persuasiveness of my observation, I recorded and examined at least 25 distinct characteristics of both Common Squirrel Monkeys and Western Gorillas. It is also helpful for me to compare these two primates. Apart from exploring the primates’ traits and differentiation between them, this paper will discuss the effects of captivity. How being in captivity and on display in a zoo would influence their behaviors and emotions? The observation was a great success and I have successfully derived with a hypothesis base on our observing data. The ultimate goal of this paper is arousing humans’ awareness of the importance of studying primates.

“Pair Living Primates have several unique characteristics that set them apart from other nonhuman primates. Monogamous Primates are two primates of different sexes that mate exclusively with one and other. The unique qualities of these animals are a result of the ecological constraints that these primates face. Because of the exclusive and solitary relationship that is monogamy there is a lack of specialized defensive roles by the adult male, which is also extensively involved in paternal care. Monogamous primates are highly territorial and very closely associated, Morphologically, there is a lack of sexual dimorphism amongst pair living primates, this is due to the exclusively and predictable genetic outcome of these animals mating with only

Chimpanzees (Figure 1) are the closest living relatives to us, and they share 99 percent of our DNA (1). Chimpanzees have distinct group territoriality. Male chimpanzees “patrol” near the boundary between the two ranges, at that time they move very carefully and quietly, and they can cease to listen and observe the range of their neighbors. Patrolling individuals are likely to face cruel and violent

Harry Harlow’s thorough research on the connection between maternal comfort and rhesus monkeys provides information and knowledge to the reader as an insight into our social and emotional development. In this article, Harlow uses experimental observation of mental and emotional associations of the affectionate ties between the child and the mother. As Harlow says, this is “an instinct incapable of analysis”.

Also, the primate’s brain sizes and active social life make their more intelligent than other animals. For example, the chimpanzees that separate to look for food and then come together to eat since they are all related to each other. It helps defend each other and thus ensure their survival. Like the primates the grandparents, in their early years as a species, older women helped gather food for their offspring’s offspring. They were freeing up their daughters to have more children, more quickly. So the most evolutionarily fit grandparents have the most grandchildren, to whom they pass on their longevity-promoting genes. Finally, I could relate the paper to the course with the hominins that forms social networks, clans, and groups of greater

Although evolution shows how monkeys and humans are similar, it does not contrast the characteristics compared to humans. Humans and chimpanzees differentiate due to the way they communicate, differences in parental care and in stance. Communication is extremely important to humans, but to primates they can only communicate through some sounds and gestures. Parental care, on the other hand, may seem similar but contrast drastically. Most children are indeed closer to their mother than their father, but primate infants learn all of their skills from their mother alone. Chimpanzee infants hold a bond so strong with their mother that they become inseparable. Primates and humans also differ from structures in the face, stance, and characteristics of the body.

I decided to look at the sexual behavior of bonobos because they are known for their frequent sexual behavior. Though they are not one of the types of great apes mentioned in the book, a bonobo is nonetheless a great ape that belongs in the same genus as the common chimpanzee. Furuichi et al. observed bonobos in their naturalistic habitat in Wamba, Democratic Republic

Addressing the various mating systems of primates and its relation to sexual size dimorphism and behavior contributes to understanding evolutionary processes and patterns. The different methods of mating are significant to study because they demonstrate the outcomes of natural selection on mate choice. These varying mating methods also aide in understanding the origin of

In the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, data was collected by the Karisoke Research Center, in which both male and female gorillas (each from single male and multi-male groups) were observed for their ‘friendship’ interactions such as grooming and distance to each other: silverbacks were determined by their dominance rank and how aggressive they were towards others, and then were numbered in relation to how much time the female spent with them. Then, fecal samples of all the gorillas were collected and analyzed using the program CERVUS to determine paternity of the infants.

Research by Yamamoto, Humle and Tanaka in 2009 concluded that chimpanzees show altruism only when prompted or pressured rather than voluntarily [5]. This particular empirical research challenges the evidence proposed by prior researchers and tests the limits of chimpanzee’s altruistic nature. Using colour-coded tokens, one of which allowed for a partner to share the reward with the test subject and one of which gave the test subject all of the reward, several chimps were tested as to their response. Results showed a tendency for the chimpanzee to take the prosocial option in situations both with and without peer pressure. Abnormally results showed that pressure or harassment from partners reduced the chimpanzee’s inclination to take the prosocial option. Although these results challenge prior research [5] they are limited as they are not conclusive and raise questions of their own to reach a complete understanding. These research results are significant in challenging an already established understanding of chimpanzee’s altruistic traits and acts as a good contrast to other references. This resource stands out as it does not make conclusive statements out of abnormal results but rather opens up a reader’s opinion and presents issues further