Tim Maroney ([info]tim_maroney) wrote,
@ 2003-05-19 23:26:00
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chimpanzees - genus homo?
Chimps May Have Closer Links to Humans

Humans and chimps share 99.4 percent of DNA -- genetic code for life -- according to a team led by Morris Goodman of the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

"We humans appear as only slightly remodeled chimpanzee-like apes," said Goodman.

The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, proposes that chimps be added to the genus Homo, currently reserved only for humans.

"Some day we'll live on Venus. Men will walk on Mars. But we will still be monkeys, down deep inside." - David Byrne, "Facts of Life"

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[info]sphinxie
2003-05-21 06:41 am UTC (link)
That means bonobos are people, too!

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[info]tim_maroney
2003-05-21 06:08 pm UTC (link)
It's a good point. The study doesn't seem to be online yet, though it was supposed to appear on May 19. Still, I would think the chimpanzees were probably Pan troglodytes rather than the lovably libidinal Pan paniscus or pygymy chimpanzee. I'd think the genetic difference between Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus would be less than that between the former and Homo sapiens, but I could be mistaken.

Not to skip to the good parts or anything, but here's the closing bit of the last long link above:

REPRODUCTION:

The bonobo gives birth to a single offspring. During estrus the perineum of the female will swell up (Estes, 1991). The bonobo is the only primate besides man who engages in mating for other purposes than procreation. Mating is not only dorso-ventral, as it is in Pan troglodytes, but it is also ventro-ventral, or face-to-face (Nishida and Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, 1987). Amongst females genital-genital rubbing, or G-G rubbing, is common and serve to communicate reassurance (Nishida and Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, 1987). Females will lay on top of each other face-to-face and move their pelvises so that the clitoris of each rubs together. Also juvenile males will rub each others genitals and place their mouths on each others genitals. Young bonobos often join in with the adults when they are having intercourse. Both males and females solicit copulations (Nishida and Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, 1987). Generally most matings occur in the morning, with the second time period for occurance happening in the evening (Nishida and Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, 1987).

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