Bonobos Are Similar to Humans – New Study Spotlights a Never-Before-Seen Strange Behavior That Makes This Fascinating Species Closely Related to Us Compared to Chimps

Surprise Findings: This Unique Behavior Makes Bonobos Closer to Humans Compared to Chimps

Recent findings in Science reveal that the unique ability to form complex cooperative relationships and share resources isn’t exclusive to humans.

A collaborative effort by researchers at Harvard University and the German Primate Center has shed light on the social behavior of bonobos (Pan paniscus), showcasing their penchant for cooperation that surpasses the boundaries of their immediate social circles and includes various groups.

Exploring the nature of humanity’s closest evolutionary relatives, chimpanzees, and bonobos, provides insights into ancestral human characteristics of cooperation and conflict.

While both species share similarities in social structure, their intergroup interactions significantly differ.

Chimpanzees exhibit predominantly hostile intergroup relationships, often leading to violence, influencing theories of innate human aggression.

However, research into bonobo interactions tells a different tale. The bonobos, which are endangered and inhabit the hard-to-reach regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, present unique difficulties for field studies.

Harvard Professor Martin Surbeck, leading the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve study, credits the local Mongandu community’s support for enabling this vital research, contributing to both scientific understanding and species conservation.

Unlike their chimpanzee cousins, bonobos demonstrate remarkable tolerance when encountering different groups, leading to alliance-building and resource-sharing—behaviors once thought to be primarily human.

“Tracking and observing multiple groups of bonobos in Kokolopori, we’re struck by the remarkable levels of tolerance between members of different groups. This tolerance paves the way for pro-social cooperative behaviors such as forming alliances and sharing food across groups, a stark contrast to what we see in chimpanzees” notes Dr. Liran Samuni, the study’s lead author from the German Primate Center.

Observations at Kokolopori show bonobos engaging selectively with certain members from other groups, forming meaningful relationships that echo the cooperative nature of human societies.

“They preferentially interact with specific members of other groups who are more likely to return the favor, resulting in strong ties between pro-social individuals” points out Surbeck. “Such connections are also key aspects of the cooperation seen in human societies.

“Bonobos show us that the ability to maintain peaceful between-group relationships while extending acts of pro-sociality and cooperation to out-group members is not uniquely human.

“The ability to study how cooperation emerges in a species so closely related to humans challenges existing theory, or at least provides insights into the conditions that promote between-group cooperation over conflict.”

These findings suggest that peaceful intergroup relations and the extension of cooperation to non-group members are not solely human traits.

This challenges the notion that cultural constructs and social norms are indispensable for the development of intergroup cooperation.

Bonobos manage resource-sharing without such cultural systems, questioning the inevitability of intergroup conflict as a human evolutionary trait.

The study posits that bonobo social strategies could offer new perspectives on our own capacities for peace and cooperation.

Image Credit: Martin Surbeck/Harvard University