![]() ![]() Whereas in most other species sexual behavior is a fairly distinct category, in the bonobo it is part and parcel of social relations-and not just between males and females. The species is best characterized as female-centered and egalitarian and as one that substitutes sex for aggression. satyrus-which refers to the myth of apes as lustful satyrs-would have been perfect for the bonobo. The old taxonomic name of the chimpanzee, P. But I believe a different label might have been selected had the discoverers known then what we know now. The bonobo was officially classified as Pan paniscus, or the diminutive Pan. But soon the animal was assigned the status of an entirely distinct species within the same genus as the chimpanzee, Pan. Schwarz declared that he had stumbled on a new subspecies of chimpanzee. A German anato-mist, Ernst Schwarz, was scrutinizing a skull that had been ascribed to a juvenile chimpanzee because of its small size, when he realized that it belonged to an adult. The creature was discovered in 1929 in a Belgian colonial museum, far from its lush African habitat. The bonobo is one of the last large mammals to be found by science. In the past two decades many strands of knowledge have come together concerning a relatively unknown ape with an unorthodox repertoire of behavior: the bonobo. Male-biased evolutionary scenarios-Man the Hunter, Man the Toolmaker and so on-are being challenged by the discovery that females play a central, perhaps even dominant, role in the social life of one of our nearest relatives. If a half-human, half-chimpanzee could be created, would it have human rights? And how might it fit into larger society?įortunately, we may never have to answer those questions.At a juncture in history during which women are seeking equality with men, science arrives with a belated gift to the feminist movement. It can lead to new species very quickly, as in the case of a new species of finch, as well as "coywolves" and "grolar bears." However, as compelling as it is to see a half-zebra, half-donkey, the concept of a "humanzee" is particularly intriguing because of its potential existential impact. Hybridization is fairly common in the animal kingdom. Furthermore, often, differences between the physiology of separate species, even when they're similar, may make interspecies-hybridization impossible. The difference makes bearing healthy young difficult, and the offspring would be infertile. However, humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in our DNA, while chimps only have 22. Humans and chimps have DNA that is 95 percent similar, and 99 percent of our DNA coding sequences are the same as well. There isn't a scientific consensus over whether such a hybrid is possible. But the experiment was interrupted when the laboratory was smashed by authorities under the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the chimp reportedly died from neglect. The Chicago Tribune reported in 1981 that a scientist had claimed to have successfully impregnated a chimp with human sperm in 1967. The French governor forbade it, and although Ivanov later found willing volunteers in the Soviet Union, his sperm-donor chimp died before he could proceed. The experiments were to take place in Guinea, which was a French colony at the time. For example, in the 1920's, Soviet scientist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov wanted to make a "chuman" by impregnating women with chimp sperm while pretending to conduct a medical exam, according to New Scientist. However, there have been multiple, documented attempts to breed humans with chimpanzees, who, along with bonobos, are our closest relatives. Furthermore, the idea of killing a half-human child for ethical reasons seems counterintuitive. ScienceAlert reports that the facility went by the names Yale Laboratories of Primate Biology and Anthropoid Breeding and Experiment Station. Science Alert explains that, although the experiment is purported to have occurred at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in the 1920's, the center hadn't even been called that until the 30's. The story gets murky and inconsistent as it passes from person to person and as time goes on. Gallup doesn't claim to have witnessed the experiment, but The Sun reports that another professor, whom he trusted, told him it was true.
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