The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

["carrie mclaren" <brooklynite282 AT gmail.com>]

Study busts bonobos' easy going reputation

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/10/15/Study_busts_bonobos_easy_going_reputation/UPI-79381224092344/

Oct. 15, 2008

LEIPZIG, Germany, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- German scientists say they have
discovered the first direct evidence of wild bonobos hunting and
eating the young of other primates.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
said while chimpanzee males frequently hunt and kill monkeys, the more
peaceful bonobos had been believed to restrict what meat they ate to
forest antelopes, squirrels and rodents. The new study contradicts
that theory.

"These findings are particularly relevant for the discussion about
male dominance and bonding, aggression and hunting -- a domain that
was thought to separate chimpanzees and bonobos," Max Planck
researcher Gottfried Hohmann said. "Our observations suggest that, in
contrast to previous assumptions, these behaviors (physical violence,
hunting and meat consumption) may persist in societies with different
social relations."

Overall, the findings challenge the theory that male dominance and
aggression must be causally linked with hunting behavior. The
researchers said future studies on the bonobos might yield insight
into the evolutionary significance and causes of aggression, hunting,
and meat eating in bonobos, chimpanzees -- and humans.

The study appears in the journal Current Biology.
(c) 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.