Anthropologist Maud Mouginot recalls an encounter with bonobos early one morning in 2019 deep in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo that helped revise her impression of them as the peace-loving “hippy apes.” It was still pitch dark in Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, in the center of the country, and she and colleagues were […]
Tag: bonobo
Bonobos and chimps recall friends and family even after years apart: Study
Louise hadn’t seen Loretta in at least 26 years. But when a photo of her sister flashed before her, she seemed drawn to the image. This recognition of a family member might seem unremarkable, but Louise is a bonobo, and her apparent ability to reach into memory and direct attention to Loretta could be evidence […]
Bonobos and Chimps Recognize Faces of Their Friends Even after Many Years of Separation
While human social memory lasts decades and tracks relationships, less is known about non-human ape long-term memory. In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists present evidence that our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus), recognize the faces of familiar conspecifics even after many […]