Kanzi with lexigram

Bonobo walks upright, carries morning paper, looks it over. All this bonobo needs for its morning activity is a cup of coffee.

The Bonobo, also called the Pygmy or Gracile Chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) belongs to the species (with the common chimpanzee) that is most closely related to humans. Its DNA is 98% identical to that of humans and some researchers think they should be classified with the human species, i.e., Homo paniscus. Bonobos have relatively long legs, a matriarchal cultural, and are generally considered frugivorous. They often walk upright and have a human-like appearance. Frans de Waal, one of the leading primate researchers, has stated that the bonobo is capable of empathy, kindness, altruism, and compassion. E. Savage-Rumbaugh and Roger Lewin have extensively studied the ability of the bonobo to learn language. Kanzi has learned over 3000 spoken English words and around 400 lexigrams. He can understand simple grammatical sentences and possibly invent new vocal sounds. The bonobo is also an accomplished tool user.

Many consider the bonobo to be the most closely related of all animals to people. The bonobo has been presented as a stand-in for what human ancestors of only a few million years looked like. With its pink lips, expressive face, high forehead, long, and neatly-parted, head hair, this animal looks very human. Its human appearance is even more accented by its highly individual facial features and its ability to walk upright with its back straight like a person and unlike the bent over posture of other apes. It is considered the most intelligent of all animals by many researchers. Individuals have been taught a vocabulary of as many as 400 words and are able to type using a special keyboard of geometric symbols. Bonobos can understand and respond to such complex commands as ones to take a bottle out of a refrigerator, open it, and put it on a table. Bonobo DNA is around 99-98 percent identical to our own.

Despite this closeness, the bonobo is one of the least recognized of any animal. This is because it was discovered in one of the most forbidden wildernesses of Africa in only 1928. Amazingly enough, this closest cousin was one of the very last large mammals to be discovered.The bonobo is remarkably intelligent.
APE VIDEOS:
GIANT CHIMPANZEE, HUMAN-SIZED, MYSTERIOUS NEW SPECIES PART 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4riL1E...
GIANT CHIMPANZEE, HUMAN-SIZED, MYSTERIOUS NEW SPECIES PART 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILo8EY...
GIANT CHIMPANZEE, HUMAN-SIZED, MYSTERIOUS NEW SPECIES PART 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSAgQf...
GORILLA ATTACKS - PUSHES FRIEND IN WATER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6ZrOj...
BONOBO RECOGNIZES HERSELF IN CAMERA VIEWER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoKiTs...
Bonobo-A Greeting From A Rare, Endangered, Human-Like Ape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXGz-a...
Bonobo Display-Male bonobo, the peaceful ape displays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYWADW...
Bonobo closest species to human walk upright "wear clothes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJom0P...
World's Largest Chimpanzee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moT83Z...
WORLD'S FIRST GORILLA BORN IN CAPTIVITY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2m9bR...
Ape vs. Monkey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq48Vx...
GORILLA PLAY "ATTACKS" JACK HANNA, ZOO DIRECTOR EMERITUS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzGE8L...
WORLD'S FIRST GORILLA MATING FACE TO FACE VIEW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYrLC7...
Bonobo Mating Activity Face-to-face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7Yqaq...
CHIMPANZEES CAN READ AND WRITE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=266FV-...
Chimpanzee, Bonobo, Orangutan, Gorilla, Siaman-The Great Ape
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxXDEs...
Babies Gorilla and Human Babies Playing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOUZ8e...
Baby Gorilla; Future Engineer, Self-recognition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dvagag...
Baby Gorilla and Human Babies/Children toys play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMDsdb...
Baby Gorilla and Human Babies Play, Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd8PFI...
Musical, Loud Chorus Of Singing Gibbons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azNzz_...
Bonobo walks upright, carries morning paper, looks it over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y27PMk...
Four Hands, The Bonobo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWum4D...
Chimpanzee & Gorilla Maternal Behavior
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRhP3R...
Orangutan watches & imitates human behavior (endangered)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrs7Cm...

Category: Bonobo