New research finds that it’s not only human babies who love to playfully tease each other. Researchers reasoned that since language is not required for this behaviour, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals such as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans. Now cognitive biologists and primatologists have documented playful teasing in four species of great apes. Like joking behaviour in humans, ape teasing is provocative, persistent, and includes elements of surprise and play. Because all four great ape species used playful teasing, it is likely that the prerequisites for humour evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago.
Tag Archives: Bonobo Pan paniscus
Bonobo Pan paniscus
Bonobos share 98% of their DNA with humans and are one of our closest extant relatives. They are complex beings with intricate social relationships, they demonstrate profound intelligence and emotional sensitivity.
It is therefore fitting that 14th of February, Valentine’s Day is also the International Day to celebrate Bonobos – Bonobos provide a potent example to humans for how we can resolve conflicts through love and non-violent conflict resolution. They are endangered in DRC/Congo from infectious diseases, illegal poaching and deforestation for palm oil, cocoa and meat and mining throughout their home range. Help their survival every time you shop – be vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Africa is becoming the new frontier for oil-palm plantations, which offers excellent economic prospects in countries with appropriate rainfall, soil and temperature conditions (Rival and Levang 2014). A staggering 99.2% of the Bonobo’s range is suitable for oil palm (Wich et al. 2014), highlighting the enormous risk the palm-oil industry will pose unless sustainable management plans are developed and implemented to protect great apes and their habitats (IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group 2014).
Primates are facing an impending extinction crisis – but we know very little about what will actually protect them
From lemurs to orangutans, tarsiers to gorillas, primates are captivating and sometimes unnervingly similar to us. So it’s not surprising that this group of more than 500 species receives a great deal of research and conservation attention. 60% of primates 🦍🦧🐒🐵 are threatened by #extinction 🙊🙈😿 Without direct action, the number of endangered #primates willContinue reading “Primates are facing an impending extinction crisis – but we know very little about what will actually protect them”
Bonobo mothers meddle in their sons’ sex lives – making them three times more likely to father children
New research shows that for #bonobos, sex really is often a family affair. What’s more, rather than being an embarrassing hindrance, motherly presence greatly benefits bonobo sons during the deed.
Along with #chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), bonobos (Pan paniscus) are our closest living relatives. Restricted to a 500,000 km² thickly-forested zone of the #Congo Basin, these endangered great apes were only formally discovered in 1928, which until 2017 made them the most recently-described living great ape species.
Operating in female-led social systems, bonobos are capable of showing a wide range of what were long held as human-specific feelings and emotions, such as sensitivity, patience, compassion, kindness, empathy and altruism. Help them to survive every time you shop #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
For primates, having a mother helps them learn social skills
Wild #bonobos, like other Great #Apes and humans, spend long childhoods with their mothers, learning the social skills they need to function as emotionally stable members of their community. But orphaned bonobos at sanctuaries don’t have that kind of upbringing. Can they still learn the skills they need to get by in bonobo society? A study by Zanna Clay and Frans de Waal in PNAS found that the mother-infant bond is vital in developing healthy social and emotional skills. Help these mighty and intelligent primates when you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Palm Oil Detectives 