To compensate for the scandalous lack of bonobos in my novel – which features human faux-nobos who aren’t even primatologists – here are links to some rich resources on our close cousins:
Overviews
- An excellent overview of diverse topics from National Geographic
- including the reliance on observations of bonobos in captivity and in semi-wild settings for the popular descriptions that emphasize their peacefulness and promiscuity
- Bonobos and chimps compared, from Duke University
- Awesome videos and other info from Arkive
- Please note that bonobos in the wild aren’t usually hanging out in clearings like this, so the footage might be from only semi-wild settings.
- The Wikipedia page
- with good links to sources
- A nice description from the Bonobo & Congo Biodiversity Initiative
- Factsheets from the National Primate Research Center and the San Diego Zoo
- Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary for bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Genetics
- The technical and not-so-technical descriptions of a single bonobo genome compared to human and chimpanzee genomes
- A journal article on the genetic variation among bonobos and their evolution
- Research on the genetics and evolutionary history of great apes
- Genetic diversity among different groups of bonobos
- Bonobos appear to have bred with chimpanzees long after their lineages first diverged.
Research news
- Three separate cases of wild bonobos cannibalizing infants – with their mothers joining in
- Bonobos’ eyesight deteriorates with age, much like humans
- How bonobos and chimps communicate via gesture
Tracy Duvall 