The Brightest Animal Minds Jun 10, 2008
Chimpanzees and Bonobos. Chimpanzees and bonobos have DNA that is 98 percent identical to ours, and the similarities don't end there. (ABC News)
LETTERS: May 2, 2008 May 3, 2008
Bonobos have a sense of humor. Recently, an idiot man (redundant. (North County Times)
PoliticiansThey're Just Like Us! Apr 12, 2008
Obama says: "She was very much of the early Dr. [Martin Luther] King era. She believed that people were all basically the same under their skin, that bigotry of any sort was wrong and that the goal was then to treat everybody as unique individuals." A infiltrates a troop of Bonobos, an endangered primate that lives in the Congo only and resolves its "differences through sexstraight sex, gay sex and sometimes, when different bonobo troops cross paths, group sex." The "peaceniks of the... (Slate)
Hippie Apes Find Love in the Congo Apr 11, 2008
Bonobos are an endangered African ape found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), the vast, sweltering river basin that is Africa's answer to the Amazon ... But it is the bonobos' social behavior that fascinates humans ... While gorillas beat their chests and chimpanzees fight savage wars, bonobos appear to be largely animals of peace. (Time.com)
Great Ape Trust signs agreement with Universitas Nasional in Jakarta Feb 27, 2008
When completed, Great Ape Trust will be the largest great ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all four types of great ape bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans for noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities. Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing unique... (EurekAlert! -- Business News)
Inside The Head Of An Ape Feb 25, 2008
However, it is unclear whether this is a matter of the training method or the capacity of the apes," says Tomas Persson. This is because he also found that language-trained bonobos at Great Ape Trust of Iowa in the U.S. can readily name simple non-realistic images that they have never seen before. This is the most promising evidence yet that you don t have to have a human brain to understand pictures as representations. But many studies remain to be done before we will know the extent of this... (Science Daily)
Science Fair Feb 19, 2008
Other USA TODAY blogs. Monday, February 18, 2008 Setting the Sunshine State curriculum. (USA Today -- Tech)
Like they do on the Discovery Channel, explained by expert Feb 15, 2008
About 35 people gathered to hear Browne speak on behalf of the Franklin Zoo not about "'sex in city,' but sex outside the city." His energy and enthusiasm was contagious as he both described and acted out the mating rituals of rhinos, bonobos, frogs and pandas. When asked whether mammals besides humans experience passion while mating, Browne said rhinos and bonobos, a type of chimpanzee, seem to be promiscuous animals. (Boston University Daily Free Press, MA)
The Ultimate Valentine Card: Full-Frontal Gorilla Love Feb 15, 2008
Besides humans, only bonobos have been known to frequently employ ventro-ventral mating positions. On a few occasions, mountain gorillas have been observed in ventro-ventral positions, but never photographed. (New York Times)
Why Don't Chimpanzees Like To Barter Food? Feb 6, 2008
9, 2007) In experiments designed to deepen our understanding of how cooperative behavior evolves, researchers have found that bonobos, a particularly sociable relative of the chimpanzee, are more successful. (May 1, 2007) Researchers have found bonobos and chimpanzees use manual gestures of their hands, feet and limbs more flexibly than they do facial expressions and vocalizations, further supporting the evolution of. (Science Daily)
Rwanda's Gishwati Forest Selected As Site For Historic Conservation Project Jan 18, 2008
When completed, it will be the largest great ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all four types of great ape bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans for noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities. Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing a unique educational experience... (Science Daily)
Down To Earth Remedies For Chimps: Eat Mud Jan 12, 2008
9, 2007) In experiments designed to deepen our understanding of how cooperative behavior evolves, researchers have found that bonobos, a particularly sociable relative of the chimpanzee, are more successful. (Dec. (Science Daily)
Meet The Relatives Dec 30, 2007
Hunters, disease and habitat loss are decimating our closest living relatives--chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos ... Gorillas are our closest relatives, after chimpanzees and bonobos, having diverged from our common ancestors 8 million years ago. (Forbes)
Bonobo ape: Congo preserve for man's closest relative Nov 24, 2007
Bonobos often lauded as the "peaceful ape" are known for their matriarchal society in which female leaders work to avoid conflict, and their sex-loving lifestyle. The bonobo population is believed to have declined sharply in the last 30 years, though surveys have been hard to complete in war-ravaged central Congo and estimates range from 60,000 to fewer than 5,000 living, according to the World Wildlife Fund. (Xinhuanet, China)
Bonobo great apes get huge park Nov 21, 2007
Huge nature reserve created for bonobos ... Bonobos often lauded as the "peaceful ape" are known for their matriarchal society in which female leaders work to avoid conflict, and their sex-loving lifestyle. (MSNBC -- Environment)
Church row evolves over fossil boy Nov 20, 2007
read about how chimps hunt and use tools, read about the sexual behavior of bonobos. kelsey, gainesville, fl. (Yahoo News -- Anthropology and Archaeology)
Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP) Nov 2, 2007
The resulting Kinshasa Declaration on Great Apes focuses on sustainable use and cooperative existence with the great apes, which include gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and orang-utan. Human Poverty and Sustainable Use. (Suite101.com)
Bonobo Conservation Programs Nov 2, 2007
From 1966 to 2003 there was no access to the area where the bonobos live ... This process will take some time as genetic testing and health evaluations need to be completed before the bonobos can be moved to the forest without endangering wild primates in the area. (Suite101.com)
Pet owners can take a walk on wild side Oct 7, 2007
And some of those that did before and still do Tasmanian devil; eastern and eastern grey kangaroos; wallaroo; red kangaroo; new-world monkeys capuchin, howler, saki, uacari, spider and woolly; old-world monkeys baboons, colobus, gelada, guenons, langurs, leaf monkeys, macaques, mandrill, mangabeys; the patas and proboscis monkeys; the talapoin; anthropoid apes chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, gorillas; gibbons and siamangs; leaping lemurs; large lemurs; giant armadillo, Giant anteater; wild... (Yahoo News -- Animals & Insects)
Iowa groups form pact to protect apes in Rwanda Sep 28, 2007
Great Ape Trust scientists study the social and cognitive behaviors of bonobos and orangutans at the Des Moines research center. The trust has been involved in financing Rwandan conservation projects the past several years, including outfitting Rwandans who guard mountain gorilla sites. (Muscatine Journal, IO)
Vultures vanishing - even scavengers face extinction Sep 14, 2007
This year, scientists reassessed the status of the great apes, which includes six species of gorillas, chimps, orangutans and bonobos, and a number of subspecies. They found our closest relatives are moving more swiftly toward extinction than previously believed. (Globe and Mail)
Bonobo Handshake: What Makes Our Chimp-like Cousins So Cooperative? Sep 5, 2007
On our last trip, we found that bonobos were better cooperators than chimpanzees because they had sex and played a lot ... Bonobos, like chimpanzees, are related to humans by 98 ... But in contrast to chimpanzees who live in male dominated societies, where infanticide and lethal aggression are observed, bonobos live in highly tolerant and peaceful societies due to female dominance that maintains group cohesion and regulates tensions through sexual behaviour. (Science Daily)
What's up at Midwest zoos? Aug 12, 2007
Milwaukee County: Bears, bonobos and brats ... Unlike the others: Bonobos (rare, almost humanoid apes). (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
The beast within Aug 6, 2007
There's some evidence that the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha, who are part of a language program at Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, occasionally make errors in selecting the visual symbols with which they communicate, but these aren't really slips. And though some zebra finches sometimes stutter, these aren't disfluencies in the same sense as the ones humans produce, because the phrases of their songs aren't as long or varied as human speech. (Boston Globe)
'Water for Elephants': Sara Gruen's hit summer paperback Jul 12, 2007
Gruen, a former technical writer, is working on her fourth novel, "Ape House," about bonobos who end up starring in a reality television show. Her current success has been something of a vindication. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Book buzz: Koontz has a 'Good Guy' Jun 7, 2007
She's most interested in the behavior of bonobos, a species of great ape. Ape House, says Gruen, is about a fictional reality-TV show. (USA Today -- Life)
FACTBOX-What's so bad about deforestation? Jun 4, 2007
-- Species threatened by forest loss include the great apes (orangutan, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos,) tiger, Asian rhino, and elephant, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says. DOES REPLANTING HELP. (AlertNet)
Conservation May 31, 2007
Dr Leakey, who will outline his concerns in a public lecture tonight at the Royal Geographical Society in London, said human activity was directly to blame for the deaths of millions of gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos across the world. He urged politicians working on a new international treaty to regulate greenhouse gas emissions to focus more on incentives to conserve forests across south-east Asia, Africa and central and south America. (Guardian Unlimited)
In Iowa, English 101 for bonobos May 11, 2007
She is on the cutting edge of research that's revealing a surprising amount about how bonobos learn and how similar to their human cousins they really are ... Here, in a massive concrete-and-glass structure, scientists are watching how the bonobos interact as they live in conditions not unlike suburban America ... When visitors come, the bonobos decide whether or not to let them into the special visiting room, where they can exchange food or other items from vending machines. (USA Today -- Tech)
Let me be a bonobo May 10, 2007
Bonobos, genetically as close to humans as larger chimpanzees, use sex much as we use handshakes - as a form of greeting between individuals in any gender combination. See an old friend, and you start rubbing genitals together, with orgasm serving as a hearty "How ya doin', pal?" Plus, bonobo bands are female-dominated, a special enticement to women investigating their chimpanzee transition options. (Guardian Unlimited -- Life)
Talking with Hands May 7, 2007
Chimpanzees and bonobos, which are sometimes called pygmy chimpanzees, use their hands to convey messages too ... Because chimpanzees and bonobos are our closest primate relatives, the discovery may help explain how language developed in people ... Thirty-four were chimpanzees, and 13 were bonobos. (Science News for Kids)
Among chimps and bonobos, the hand often does the talking May 3, 2007
So it is of interest that chimpanzees and bonobos also make liberal use of gestures in addition to the sounds and facial expressions that are part of their communication system ... The versatility of the 31 hand gestures seen among chimpanzees and bonobos "makes gesture a serious candidate modality to have acquired symbolic meaning" in early human ancestors, the researchers write ... Bonobos, which became a separate species from chimpanzees 2. (International Herald Tribune)
The Handy Way of Speaking May 1, 2007
Indeed, so evocative are the manual gestures of chimpanzees and bonobos that a team of researchers has rekindled an old hypothesis: that human language evolved from gesturing, rather than from vocal calls. Chimps and bonobos use a variety of calls and gestures in their everyday lives ... "It used to be thought that the communication of chimpanzees and bonobos was strictly emotional and tied to specific contexts," explains Frans de Waal, a primatologist at Yerkes National Primate Center in... (Science Now)
Chimpanzees Are Actually Three Distinct Groups, Gene Study Shows Apr 23, 2007
To unravel the evolutionary history to chimpanzees, the research team collected DNA from 78 common chimpanzees and six bonobos, a separate species of chimpanzee, and examined 310 DNA markers from each. They found four "discontinuous populations," three of common chimps plus the bonobos ... They estimate that bonobos, which live south of the Congo River, split off from the ancestors of modern chimpanzees about 800,000 years ago. (Science Daily)
Gene study shows chimps more diverse than humans Apr 21, 2007
Przeworski's team also looked at bonobos, a separate species of chimpanzee ... And yet bonobos are very different from the common chimpanzee ... Writing in the Public Library of Sciences journal PLoS Genetics, the researchers say they estimate that bonobos, which live south of the Congo River, split off from the ancestors of modern chimpanzees about 800,000 years ago. (Scientific American)
New research in Psychological Science Apr 6, 2007
We found that bonobos, chimpanzees, and gorillas followed gaze significantly more often when the obstruction had a window than when it did not, just as human infants do. Additionally, bonobos and chimpanzees looked at the experimenter's side of a windowless obstruction more often than the other species ... Moreover, bonobos produced more double looks when the barrier was opaque than when it had a window, indicating an understanding of what other individuals see. (EurekAlert!)
Meet 'Bananas' and 'More Bananas' Apr 4, 2007
DES MOINES, Iowa The eight bonobos at the howled Tuesday as they watched two trumpeter swans dip into a lake for the first time ... And the birds will give the bonobos at the trust an interesting distraction ... Bonobos walk on two legs and are the most humanlike in appearance of the great apes. (Fox News)
It's all happening at the zoo Apr 2, 2007
The year before last, it was orangutans, and last year it was the bonobos. The time spent in San Diego has been productive. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
Court to rule if chimp has human rights Apr 1, 2007
In New Zealand, apes - gorillas, orang utans, chimpanzees and bonobos - were granted special rights as 'non-human hominids' in 1999 to grant protection from maltreatment, slavery, torture, death and extinction. Sommer, an evolutionary anthropologist, said: 'It's untenable to talk of dividing humans and humanoid apes because there are no clear-cut criteria - neither biological, nor mental, nor social. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Growing movement wants to grant 'personhood' Mar 31, 2007
Ian Redmond of the U.N.'s contends apes are special because they are so closely related to humans chimpanzees and bonobos, for example, differ by only 1 percent of DNA.. (Story continues below). (WorldNetDaily)
Oh brother... Mar 30, 2007
APES AND US Gorillas, bonobos, orang-utans and chimps are great apes Chimpanzees and bonobos differ from humans by only 1% of DNA and could accept a blood transfusion or a kidney All great apes recognise themselves in a mirror Elephants and dolphins show similar self-awareness Great apes can learn and use human languages through signs or symbols but lack the vocal anatomy to master speech Great apes have displayed love, fear, anxiety and jealousy In 1997 the UK government banned experiments on... (BBC News -- UK)
Short-legged forebears were good fighters Mar 14, 2007
Body measurementsCarrier examined hind-limb lengths and indicators of aggression in nine , including gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, black gibbons, siamang gibbons, olive baboons, dwarf guenon monkeys and Australian aborigines ... While bonobos have shorter legs than chimps, they are less aggressive. (MSNBC)
Wooten: Pardon Libby Mar 8, 2007
I trust she has spent her time away from the Wooten Blog on more appropriately feminine pursuits than grappling with current events and political concerns, which pasttime has been known to lower estrogen levels in female bonobos and lab rats. I blush to think she reads my humble opinions, and pray mightily to one day meet her in person. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Birds not 'bird brained' at all Feb 25, 2007
Also last May, Nicholas Mulcahy and Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, tested bonobos, close relatives of chimpanzees, and orangutans at the local zoo and found the animals could plan and use tools. lect. (News24)
Chimps hunt with spears, ISU researcher finds Feb 24, 2007
Pruetz is a scientific adviser to Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a Des Moines research center where scientists are studying tool use by orangutans and bonobos. Robert Shumaker, who heads the trust's orangutan research project, said chimpanzees have been studied far more than orangutans, bonobos and gorillas, the other great apes. (DesMoinesRegister.com)
Birds plan ahead, study shows Feb 23, 2007
Also last May, Nicholas Mulcahy and Josep Call of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, tested bonobos, close relatives of chimpanzees, and orangutans at the local zoo and found the animals could plan and use tools. Copyright 2007. (CNN -- Science)
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Feb 10, 2007
The Zoo has been committed to animal conservation efforts for over 20 years and has been recognized to its work with Manatees and the Bonobos of the Congo. The Animals and Exhibits. (Suite101.com)
Globalization & Great Apes: Illegal Logging Destroying Last Strongholds Of Orangutans In National Parks Feb 8, 2007
(October 13, 2005) -- The extinction of the great apes -- gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans -- is imminent if strict conservation practices are not implemented in the immediate future. Once these practices. (Science Daily)
Exhibition of human origins shows all creatures closely related Feb 7, 2007
Among the human being's closest relatives, the DNA of chimpanzees and bonobos, until recently known as the pygmy chimpanzee, are 98 ... A touch-screen display presents some of the research from the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, where bonobos are taught how to communicate with humans and other primates using a specially designed pictogram keyboard. (People's Daily Online)
Grub's upWhat if we ate like our ancestors? 12 days on the 'ape diet' Jan 13, 2007
Is that nutritionist aware that our closest relatives are omnivores who, in the case of Bonobos, if not all chimps, will kill and eat their own kind ... Bonobos do not eat each other; Mike Watkinson's comment is confusing Bonobos with common Chimpanzees, who have only been seen to kill and eat each other under extreme environmental stress. (BBC News -- Health)
Bonobo dies, 12 sickened at Ohio zoo Dec 30, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A severe respiratory infection has sickened a group of bonobos at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, killing one of them, officials said Thursday. The bonobos, a type of chimpanzee, began showing signs of infection - coughing and nasal discharge - two weeks ago ... Twelve remaining bonobos are being treated with antibiotics and appear to be getting better, he said. (Herald Online, SC -- Health)
Male chimps put age before beauty when searching for a mate Nov 22, 2006
TIMES ONLINE News nt Career Life Arts re Special Reports Sound n Services. Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter. (Times Online)
Chimps like toyboys Nov 21, 2006
Male chimps put age before beauty when searching for a mate - World - Times Online. TIMES ONLINE News nt Career Life Arts re Special Reports Sound n Services. (London Times Online)
Gay animals out of the closet? Nov 17, 2006
From male that ride the dorsal fin of another male to female bonobos that , the animal kingdom tolerates all kinds of lifestyles ... "In bonobos for instance, strict heterosexual individuals would not be able to make friends in the flock and thus never be able to breed," Bockman told LiveScience. (MSNBC -- Technology)
Clever Bonobo Again Triggers Fire Alarm Nov 16, 2006
Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005. Bonobos are one of the most human-like of the great apes and have sophisticated language skills. (CBS News)
Mirrors reflect elephants' intelligence Nov 1, 2006
By contrast, human babies get it by the time they are two years old, as do adult chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans. Monkeys, which are more distantly related to humans than are apes, never catch on. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Who's That Pretty Pachyderm? Nov 1, 2006
By contrast, human babies get it by age 2, as do adult chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans. CONTINUED 1. (Yahoo News -- Animals & Insects)
• Glad You Asked: Extra bar time; Trick-or-treat hours; a tale about tails Oct 28, 2006
Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans don't have tails. In fact, the only monkey with a tail is the Barbary macaque. (Racine Journal Times, WI)
Ape scolded for pulling fire alarm Oct 26, 2006
Panbanisha, a 25-year-old female, is one of seven bonobos at the facility, and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005. Bonobos are among the most human-like of the great apes ... Setka said Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a lead scientist studying the behavior and intelligence of bonobos, scolded Panbanisha. (Yahoo News -- FYI)
Great Ape Scolded for Pulling Fire Alarm Oct 24, 2006
Setka said Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a lead scientist at the trust focusing on studying the behavior and intelligence of bonobos, scolded Panbanisha ... Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust, and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005 ... Bonobos are among the most human-like of the great apes. (CBS News)
Great Ape pulls alarm at Great Ape Trust in Des Moines Oct 24, 2006
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, who is studying the behavior and intelligence of bonobos, said that on Thursday the 25-year-old Panbanisha had witnessed a false alarm and the ensuing chaos of flashing lights, noise and staff members scrambling to ensure all the animals were safe ... Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust and was among the first group to arrive in April 2005 ... Bonobos are one of the most human-like of the great apes and have sophisticated language skills. (Muscatine Journal, IO)
Just like usIf we're so alike, why aren't chimps classed as human, too? Oct 10, 2006
The apes Sue Savage Rumbaugh works with - and lives with - are bonobos. They are a kind of chimpanzee that is less aggressive than that found in most zoos. (BBC News -- Science)
What Makes us Different?Not very much, when you look at our DNA. But those few tiny changes made all the difference in the world Oct 7, 2006
Posted Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006 You don't have to be a biologist or ananthropologist to see how closely the great apes--gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans--resemble us. Even a child can see that their bodies are pretty much the same as ours, apart from some exaggerated proportions and extra body hair. (Time.com)
Potential New Target For Skin Cancer Treatment Oct 6, 2006
African great apes like chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans have SPANX, but monkeys do not. "SPANX represents a rapidly evolving gene family located on the X chromosome involved in the development of the spermatid nucleus," Herr said. (Science Daily)
What Makes Us Different? Oct 1, 2006
Posted Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006 You don't have to be a biologist or an anthropologist to see how closely the great apes gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans resemble us. Even a child can see that their bodies are pretty much the same as ours, apart from some exaggerated proportions and extra body hair. (Time.com)
