Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities
Bonobos are our closest living relatives along with chimpanzees. They attract much attention from anthropologists who want to better understand our primate origins and more recently from the public because of their remarkable behavior and matriarchal social system. New published insights from recent...
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| Language: | English |
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Société Francophone de Primatologie
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Revue de Primatologie |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1090 |
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| author | David Beaune |
| author_facet | David Beaune |
| author_sort | David Beaune |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Bonobos are our closest living relatives along with chimpanzees. They attract much attention from anthropologists who want to better understand our primate origins and more recently from the public because of their remarkable behavior and matriarchal social system. New published insights from recent years allow us to better know Pan paniscus. This review describes the most recent findings: bonobos, chimpanzees, and humans ought to be part of the same genus (Homo or Pan) according to our genetics. bonobos have impressive cognitive ability to communicate with lexigram and sign-language, solve problems and use tools. Females have high social status in the group due to female association and coalition. The society is not really characterized by female dominant but rather by co-dominance of associated females. They are not purely egalitarian but non-violent and tolerant. Neither lethal aggression nor infanticide were observed and are not expected. Sex has a pivotal role in this pacifist society, which lacks sexual restrictions with the one exception of incest. Bonobos are probably a key species in forest ecology through their seed dispersal mutualism with plants whose fruits they eat. We continue to discover fascinating biological facts about our cousins who are in danger of extinction. A few of these are described here. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6afae60a7dc74c6e942743caec26cb63 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-3757 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | Société Francophone de Primatologie |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue de Primatologie |
| spelling | doaj-art-6afae60a7dc74c6e942743caec26cb632025-01-30T10:01:48ZengSociété Francophone de PrimatologieRevue de Primatologie2077-37572012-12-01410.4000/primatologie.1090Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realitiesDavid BeauneBonobos are our closest living relatives along with chimpanzees. They attract much attention from anthropologists who want to better understand our primate origins and more recently from the public because of their remarkable behavior and matriarchal social system. New published insights from recent years allow us to better know Pan paniscus. This review describes the most recent findings: bonobos, chimpanzees, and humans ought to be part of the same genus (Homo or Pan) according to our genetics. bonobos have impressive cognitive ability to communicate with lexigram and sign-language, solve problems and use tools. Females have high social status in the group due to female association and coalition. The society is not really characterized by female dominant but rather by co-dominance of associated females. They are not purely egalitarian but non-violent and tolerant. Neither lethal aggression nor infanticide were observed and are not expected. Sex has a pivotal role in this pacifist society, which lacks sexual restrictions with the one exception of incest. Bonobos are probably a key species in forest ecology through their seed dispersal mutualism with plants whose fruits they eat. We continue to discover fascinating biological facts about our cousins who are in danger of extinction. A few of these are described here.https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1090great apeshominidhomosexualitymatriarchalPansexual behavior. |
| spellingShingle | David Beaune Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities Revue de Primatologie great apes hominid homosexuality matriarchal Pan sexual behavior. |
| title | Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities |
| title_full | Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities |
| title_fullStr | Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities |
| title_short | Latest news from the bonobos: Pan paniscus myths and realities |
| title_sort | latest news from the bonobos pan paniscus myths and realities |
| topic | great apes hominid homosexuality matriarchal Pan sexual behavior. |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1090 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidbeaune latestnewsfromthebonobospanpaniscusmythsandrealities |