The chimpanzee (; Pan troglodytes), also simply known as the chimp, is an endangered species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close relative, the bonobo, was more commonly known as the pygmy chimpanzee, this species was often called the common chimpanzee or the robust chimpanzee. The chimpanzee and the bonobo are the only species in the genus Pan. Evidence from fossils and DNA sequencing shows that Pan is a sister taxon to the human lineage and is thus humans' closest living relative.
The chimpanzee is covered in coarse black hair but has a bare face, fingers, toes, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. It is larger and more robust than the bonobo. The species lives in groups that range in size from 15 to 150 members, although individuals travel and forage in much smaller groups during the day. The species lives in a strict male-dominated hierarchy, where disputes are generally settled without the need for violence. Nearly all chimpanzee populations have been recorded using tools, modifying sticks, rocks, grass and leaves and using them for hunting and acquiring honey, termites, ants, nuts and water. The species has also been found creating sharpened sticks to spear small mammals. Its gestation period is eight months. The infant is weaned at about three years old but usually maintains a close relationship with its mother for several years more.
Makes tools, war, and politics — our nearest living cousin.
Ecology
The chimpanzee can adapted to a variety of habitats, including dry savanna, evergreen rainforest, montane forest, swamp forest, and dry woodland-savanna mosaic. In Gombe, the chimpanzee mostly uses semideciduous and evergreen forest as well as open woodland. At Bossou, they live at the intersection of forests, savannas and cultivated areas. At Taï, it is found in the last remaining tropical rain forest in Ivory Coast.
Chimpanzees are active during the day, spending much of their time feeding and traveling in their home range. They can repeatedly find food within their range due to advanced cognitive maps. The apes eat for around two hours after they wake in the morning while midday is spend traveling, resting and more foraging. Starting in late afternoon, feeding takes up more of their time again and they then build nests for the night. The chimpanzee builds a sleeping nest in a tree in a different location each night, never using the same nest more than once. Chimpanzees sleep alone in separate nests except for infants or juvenile chimpanzees, which sleep with their mothers.
Behaviour
Behaviour of chimpanzees has been studied from multiple perspectives including their group structure, their mating preferences, their parenting capacities, the limits of their communication abilities, their hunting abilities and their ritual behaviour.
Conservation
The chimpanzee is on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. Chimpanzees are legally protected in most of their range and are found both in and outside national parks. Between 172,700 and 299,700 individuals are thought to be living in the wild, a decrease from about a million chimpanzees in the early 1900s. Chimpanzees are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning that commercial international trade in wild-sourced specimens is prohibited and all other international trade (including in parts and derivatives) is regulated by the CITES permitting system.
Characteristics
Adult chimpanzees have an average standing height of 150 cm (4 ft 11 in). In the wild, males weigh an average of around 40 kg (88 lb) while female weigh an average of around 30 kg (66 lb). In exceptional cases, certain individuals may considerably exceed these measurements, standing over 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) on two legs and weighing up to 136 kg (300 lb) in captivity. The chimpanzee is more robust than the bonobo but less than the gorilla. It has longer arms than legs and can reach below the knees. The elongated hands have long fingers with short thumbs and flat fingernails. The big toe is opposable, allowing the ape to grasp with its feet. The body or thorax is short but wide, while the hips are long with a wide top. A chimpanzee's head is rounded with a forward-projecting jaw and a pronounced brow ridge. It has forward-facing eyes, a small nose, circulator non-lobed ears and a long flexible upper lip. Like all great apes, it has two incisors, one canine, two premolars, and three molars on both halves of each jaw. The canine teeth of males are sharp. Chimpanzees lack the prominent sagittal crest and associated head and neck musculature of gorillas.
Intelligence
Chimpanzees display numerous signs of intelligence, from the ability to remember symbols, to cooperation, and to tool use. They are among species that have passed the mirror test, suggesting self-awareness. In one study, two young chimpanzees showed retention of mirror self-recognition after one year without access to mirrors. Chimpanzees also display signs of culture among groups, with the learning and transmission of variations in grooming, tool use and foraging techniques leading to local traditions. A 30-year study at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute has shown that chimpanzees are able to learn to recognise the numbers 1 to 9 and their values. The chimpanzees further show an aptitude for eidetic memory, demonstrated in experiments in which the jumbled digits are flashed onto a computer screen for less than a quarter of a second. One chimpanzee, Ayumu, was able to correctly and quickly point to the positions where they appeared in ascending order. Ayumu performed better than human adults who were given the same test.