Chimpanzee and bonobo

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are both our evolutionary closest living relatives. Human and Pan lineages diverged around 7 million years ago, and the chimpanzee and the bonobo branched 1-2 million years ago. Accordingly, the two species have a lot of similarities in their appearance, behavior, and societies; however, research highlights some striking differences between these close sister species. There are a number of traits in which bonobos and chimpanzees are more similar to humans than they are each other have been recognized recently. This comparison provides an extremely powerful test of ideas about human uniqueness. Given that both species are equally related to us, balanced insights are needed from both chimpanzees and bonobos in order to understand the selective pressures which may have shaped the human mind. Here we concisely review their evolution, society, and cognition, and suggest its implication for the evolutionary processes by which cognitive traits evolve in apes.

Duke Scholars

Author Brian Hare Evolutionary Anthropology