Similarities Between Chimpanzees, Boonobos And Humans

As you walk through the jungle, listen. What do you hear? The cry of a gorilla? The scream of a chimpanzee? You only hear one, or you may hear both. There may be a flash of color and you not know what it is because gorillas and chimps have very similar characteristics and habits, but their eating habits are very different. I'm going to tell you about chimps and gorillas to show you how closely related they really are.

They also share with females having sexual swellings and also with high-ranking females. Chimpanzees barter a limited commodity such as meat for other services like alliances, sex, grooming through which they are engaging in a very simple and primitive form of a currency exchange. It may be that the two chimpanzee cultures 2,000 kilometres apart have developed their distinct uses of meat as a social currency. In one place meat is used as a reward for cooperation, in the other as a manipulative tool of nepotism. Such systems are commonplace in all human societies, and their roots may be seen in chimpanzees’ market economy,

1. Introduction: Extent Primates provide great insight as analogies into facilitating an understanding of how tool use, culture and cognition developed in the early hominid lineage. Archaeologists interpret primate behaviors and social structures as a means of investigating the evolution of hominin technology. This process will be briefly outlined as well as a number of the benefits and disadvantages presented when using extant primates as analogies in this way.

Over the years, this topic of whether nonhuman primates possess culture or not, has generated numerous debates. This has led to conversations on what is culture and if it is uniquely human. How each researcher defines culture correlates with whether they believe non-human primates possess culture. The definitions provided by scientists and other researchers vary based on its complexity and how loosely or specific they define it; as well as how inclusive and exclusive they are about what is considered a culture. This varies from discipline to discipline where anthropologist believes that culture is learned while biologist believe it is an innate trait.

     I think that if culture is defined as learned behavior, than it is reasonable to say that primates posses a form of culture. Primates have been observed making tools to aid in collecting food and developing communication system, both of which are learned behaviors.

Roger Fouts showed everyone what chimpanzees were capable of from on intellectual standpoint when people thought of them as a lesser species. Fouts proved that they are indeed capable of learning and actually communicating by using American sign language in a time when other researchers may have believed they were just mimicking. With all the time spent with these amazing animals by the end of the book Fouts became more affectionate and describing his lab animals as “chimpanzee people.” He saw these misunderstood animals as an equal and treated them as so. He was an advocate for the rights of animals of all kinds and this came at the risk of his own career. Fouts' hands-on knowledge and familial compassion for his chimpanzee companions make this an exceptional book that should change the way any reader views humans' closest

There is some great evidence for the argument that primates have their own culture, so it is no wonder that it is getting harder for people to argue that they do not. There are plenty of pictures of primates hugging each other, laughing, and even making tools. The more I read about primates the more I see how similar they are to humans. Chimps use grooming as a way of social reconciliation, as well as helping each other out. Humans were also thought to be one of the only species to engage in sexual activity without the sole cause being conception. Primates have been observed engaging in sexual acts that tend to strengthen social bonds and defuse conflict. Scientists have also taught primates how to use sign language as a means of communication.

A 10 year practice of supervision for bonobos shows that they unlike chimpanzee walk on two extremities more often than chimpanzee males. They are less aggressive, than chimpanzee. The social hierarchy in their communities is not so cruel, and relations among sex are devoid of a strong man's dominant. Unlike other monkeys bonobo males stay the longest under their parent guardianship that decreased a lot male’s aggression. When chimpanzee finds food, males will take it no matter if the first who found it was a female which differs chimpanzee from bonobo (Wrangham and Peterson, 1996). Another reason of bonobo’s weak aggressiveness is that every female entering the community has a sexual relationship with the older female; they groom each other

A very close relative, Chimpanzees, have been known to make their own tools and improvise as well. Jane Goodall once said, “just as human cultures use different utensils for food, so do different groups of chimps”. She noticed that one group of chimps would go “termite fishing”, which means the chimps would use two sticks to capture termites to eat. Another group of chimpanzees would use a rock as a hammer, and an anvil, or a hard surface, to break open nut shells. When drinking water from holes in trees, she noticed that a group of chimpanzees would use chewed leaves to act like a sponge, and then simply suck the water out of the leaves once the water was collected.

However, they do not activity hunt mammalian prey but them feet on it. Second, Chimpanzees are very smart and have some behavior like a human which mean they most of them having the skill to use tools. Meanwhile, they can use tools as a stick, rocks, grass and leaves used to acquire and eat honey, or food. Lang said, “For example, to extract honey from the hives of stingless bees, chimpanzees use short sticks stripped of their leaves, twigs, and bark to most effectively scoop it out of the hive.

According to my observation, even though Chimpanzee, and Gorilla are similar, they differ in many other ways when we go deeper in physical, and behavioral traits. However, both species also share the majority part of their DNA with Humans. Based on some reliable researches, some scientists realized that humans did not come from apes but instead shared common ancestors. As a matter of fact, humans and Primates are different, but share most of their genome, explaining why we found some similar patterns of behavior among humans, and

According to Koops et al. , “Dipping for army ants (Dorylus spp.) is one of the hallmark examples of culture in chimpanzees 12,13. In ant-dipping, chimpanzees use a stiff wand of woody or herbaceous vegetation to extract the highly aggressive army ants from their temporary underground nests or directly from surface trails” ( p.2 ). For the older and more experience chimpanzees this is common sense but for newborn and younger chimpanzees this is a lesson needed to learn from their mothers or by the hard way, on their own. When first learning to reach for the ants the young chimpanzee uses its hand

Although it is largely accepted today that primates and humans had a common ancestor, the exact lineage of modern humans is still intensely debated and may never be fully completed. Throughout the history of origin theories, the idea that humans and apes are somehow related has been almost always a constant. Ever since humans noticed morphological similarities with apes, people have been determined to figure out their most or first distinguishable trait, and the species that bridged the gap between humans and apes. While trying to fit the growing amount of information gathered over the years into a clear, linear lineage, humans have also been hesitant to place the two too closely together. This hesitancy and misconception of human ancestry

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

According to National Geographic, scientists have sequenced the genome factor of the chimpanzee and found that humans are 98.5% similar to the ape species. The chimpanzee is our closest relative in the animal kingdom; however, some people are not aware of our resembling traits with chimpanzees. Jane Goodall’s, In the Shadow of Man, describes some similar traits humans and chimpanzees have such as their facial expressions and emotions, use of tools, and diet.