About Chimpanzees
So Like Us
Similarities to People
Chimpanzees and humans differ by just over one percent of DNA. In fact biologically, chimpanzees are more closely related to humans than they are to gorillas. Some have proposed including chimpanzees (genus Pan) in the same genus as human beings (genus Homo) to recognise these similarities, calling them Homo troglodytes.
Intelligence
The anatomy of the chimpanzee brain and central nervous system is startlingly similar to our own. It should not be surprising, then, that chimpanzees (along with gorillas and bonobos) are capable of intellectual performances once thought unique to humans. Wild chimps use sophisticated cooperation in hunting. They use tools for more purposes than any other being save humans. And chimps show the beginning of tool-making behaviour.
Chimpanzees are capable of reasoned thought, abstraction and a concept of self. Those who have worked closely with chimpanzees agree that they feel and express emotions such as sadness and happiness, fear and despair–and they know mental as well as physical pain.
Communication
There are uncanny similarities in the nonverbal communication of chimps and humans' kissing, embracing, patting on the back, touching hands, tickling, swaggering, shaking the fist, brandishing sticks, hurling rocks. And these patterns appear in similar contexts as those in which they are seen in humans.
In captivity, chimpanzees can be taught human languages such as ASL (American Sign Language), learning 300 or more signs. They can master many complex skills on computers.
Childhood
Like us, chimps have a long childhood - five years of suckling and sleeping in their mothers' nests at night. Bonds formed between mother and offspring and between siblings during this intense period are likely to persist throughout life.
If a mother dies, the orphan may be unable to survive. He or she often shows signs of clinical depression, and feeding and play activities decline. Older siblings often adopt their orphaned brothers or sisters. Occasionally individuals adopt infants not related to them - instances of true altruism.
A long childhood is as important for chimps as it is for humans. A young chimp has much to learn, watching, imitating and practising the behaviour of others. This learning is the means by which certain actions are passed from one generation to the next - the beginnings of culture.
Biological Make-Up
Because chimpanzees are so like us biologically, they can catch or be infected with all known human infectious diseases (with the possible exception of cholera). This is why they are used in medical research. Fortunately, researchers are beginning to recognise our similarities and this is leading to improvements in the conditions in some medical research labs.
Ultimately, we hope it will no longer be considered ethical to use chimpanzees in medical research at all.
Significant Differences
Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzees not only points to striking chimp-human similarities but also pinpoints differences. Aside from the obvious physical traits, perhaps the most significant difference is that chimpanzees do not have a spoken language. This is due to the fact that chimps do not have a vocal tract.
Our intellect dwarfs that of even the most gifted chimpanzee. The fact that chimpanzees can learn from humans, to communicate using human languages such as American Sign Language or lexigrams, does not change this. Language is believed to have played a major role: humans can discuss things or events not present, share knowledge of the distant past, make plans for the distant future.
