- Fact 2 - Definition: The Bonobo,
formerly called the pygmy chimp. Great
Apes of the genus Pan
(Pan paniscus), native to the swampy
rainforests
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. The
bonobo is a little shorter and thinner than the common
chimpanzee but has longer limbs, pink lips, a dark face and
tail-tuft through adulthood and has parted long hair on its head
- Bonobos live south of the River
Congo and thereby were separated from the ancestors of the
Common Chimpanzee, which live north of the Congo river
- Fact 3 - Bonobos are part of the
great ape family and the smallest of the living primates. There are four types of great apes:
Gorillas,
Chimpanzees, Bonobos and
Orangutans
- The German anatomist Ernst Schwarz
is credited with having discovered the Bonobo in 1928
- Fact 4 - Bonobos are mainly
frugivorous, this means they fruit eaters. 57% of their diet is
fruit and the remainder consists of seeds,leaves, flowers, bark,
stems, roots and mushrooms. They are also known to eat small
mammals
- Fact 5 - The word "bonobo" comes
from the Bantu words which loosely translate to "ancestor"
- Fact 6 - In bonobo society, the
female is the dominant sex
- Fact 7 - Bonobos are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as
Endangered Species
- Fact 8 - Classification 'Endangered'-
EN (Status: Threatened) - In the
immediate probability of becoming extinct and require protection
to exist. Bonobos are threatened by poaching, hunting, loss of
habitat, and disease
- Fact 9 - The Bonobo makes a night
nest in a tree in a new location every night
- Fact 10 - Bonobos standing
height: 730 to 830 mm (2.40 to 2.72 ft)
- Fact 11 - Bonobos weight: 39 kg (86
lb)
- Fact 12 - Bonobos are both arboreal
and terrestrial, spending equal time in the trees and on the
ground
- Fact 13 - Arboreal refers to their
movement in trees which include moving on narrow branches,
moving up and down inclines, balancing, crossing gaps and
dealing with obstructions. Swinging from one branch to another
is called brachiating
- Fact 14 - The bonobo shares 97% of
the same DNA that makes up humans
- Fact 15 - Bonobos move around by
knuckle-walking (as do Gorillas and Chimpanzees)
- Fact 16 - Bonobos have opposable
thumbs meaning that they can touch each of their fingers with
their thumb
- Fact 17 - Bonobos Lifespan: 30-40 years
- Fact 18 - Bonobos are better suited
to bipedal locomotion (walking on two feet) than other apes.
- Fact 19 - Bonobos have senses
very similar to humans including hearing, sight, smell, taste,
and touch
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