bonobo

enUK

bo·no·bo

B0386650 (bə-nō′bō, bŏn′ə-bō′)n. pl. bo·no·bos A species of chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) found only in the Congo River basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, having black hair and a more slender build than the common chimpanzee (P. troglodytes). Also called pygmy chimpanzee.

[Probably from a misspelling of Bolobo, the name of a town on the Congo River (now in the Democratic Republic of Congo) that was labeled on the crates in which the first living bonobos were sent to Europe.]

bonobo

(ˈbɒnəbəʊ) n (Animals) an anthropoid ape, Pan paniscus, of central W Africa: similar to the chimpanzee but much smaller and having a black face. Also called: pygmy chimpanzee [C20: from W African language]

bo•no•bo

(bəˈnoʊ boʊ)

n., pl. -bos. a small chimpanzee, Pan paniscus, primarily of swamp forests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [1950–55]

Thesaurus

Noun

bonobo - small chimpanzee of swamp forests in Zaire; a threatened speciesPan paniscus, pygmy chimpanzeegenus Pan, Pan - chimpanzees; more closely related to Australopithecus than to other pongidschimp, chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes - intelligent somewhat arboreal ape of equatorial African forests

Translations

bonobo

enUK

bonobo,

smaller of two species of chimpanzeechimpanzee,
an ape, genus Pan, of the equatorial forests of central and W Africa. Smaller populations are also found in the savannas of the same regions. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, lives N of the Congo River.
..... Click the link for more information. , genus Pan. Whereas the common chimpanzee, P. troglodytes, lives in forests across most of equatorial Africa, the bonobo, P. paniscus (sometimes called the pygmy chimpanzee), is found only in the Congo (Kinshasa) S of the Congo River. The bonobo has a more slender body build than the common chimpanzee, but there is considerable overlap in overall size (head-and-body length and weight) among individuals of the two species.

Bonobos share many behavioral traits with common chimpanzees; e.g., they tend to associate in groups, are day-active, build sleeping nests in trees, and eat mostly fruit and other vegetable matter. Their groups are usually larger than those of common chimpanzees, however, and often the females are closely bonded and tend to dominate males. Moreover, both males and females appear to use sexual contact as a means of communication and a way to ease tensions that might otherwise erupt into conflict, though there is evidence to suggest this is much more common in captive, rather than wild, bonobos. Bonobos are generally less violent than common chimpanzees, and there are fewer conflicts between neighboring bonobo communities. Both bonobos and common chimpanzees have been able to learn the meanings of many human words (although they cannot vocalize them), and they can be trained to communicate with humans by using sign language or symbol boards.

The bonobo is listed as an endangered species. The few thousand that remain in the wild are hunted by humans, and their habitat is being fragmented by encroaching human settlement, agriculture, and logging operations. Bonobos are classified in the phylum ChordataChordata
, phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the chief internal skeletal support at some stage of their development. Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.
..... Click the link for more information. , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Primates, family Hominidae.

Bibliography

See study by F. de Waal (1997).

bonobo

bo·no·bo

bonobo

bo•no•bo

bonobo

bonobo,

Bibliography

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Synonyms for bonobo

noun small chimpanzee of swamp forests in Zaire

Synonyms

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