I thought the 'mystery' behind these apes had been solved?
In June 2006, it was reported that Cleve Hicks and colleagues from the University of Amsterdam had completed a year-long hunt for these anthropoids, during which they were able to observe them for a total of 20 hours. DNA samples recovered from faeces confirmed the classification of these apes as the chimpanzee subspecies Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii.
I've heard that the USA and the USSR are in a race as to who will land on the Moon first; maybe you'll keep us informed of the progress in due course please.
And I did hear something about a passenger ship called Titanic the other day having struck on an iceberg on its maiden voyage; do you have any more information, I'd love to hear more.
And I did hear something about a passenger ship called Titanic the other day having struck on an iceberg on its maiden voyage; do you have any more information, I'd love to hear more.
Paix
Well-Known Member
Yes. Chimpanzee x Bonobo hybrids have been bred in a French circus. An article about them was published in 2004:
VERVAECKE (H.), STEVENS (J.) & VAN ELSACKER (L.), 2004 : Pan continuity : bonobo-chimpanzee hybrids. Folia Primatologica 75(1) : 59.
Hilde Vervaecke also described her encounters with these animals in the French circus (including a photo), in her book (unfortunately published only in Dutch) :
VERVAECKE (H.), 2002 : De bonobo’s : schalkse apen met menselijke trekjes. Louvain, Davidsfonds : p. 134-138.
In short, in 1979 (before France ratified CITES) a circus director bought what he thought was a male chimp. It performed in circus acts and regularly mated with two female chimpanzees; before a visitor managed to convince the director that the male ape was in fact a Bonobo. Between 1991 and 2000 seven hybrids were born [I don't know if they all survived], the oldest of which was by 2000 working in the circus act as a successor to his retired father. I assume some of these hybrids are still alive today: maybe another ZooChatter can provide an update?
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Fascinating. Never knew about this. Can anyone provide anymore information or whereabouts of any of these?
The 'article' I quoted: -
VERVAECKE (H.), STEVENS (J.) & VAN ELSACKER (L.), 2004 : Pan continuity : bonobo-chimpanzee hybrids. Folia Primatologica 75(1): 59
is in fact just a short abstract of a presentation given at the Spring 2003 meeting of the Primate Society of Great Britain.
The abstract reads:
From historical accounts it appears that natural populations of bonobos and chimpanzees have been allopatric since their phylogenetic separation. There are no accounts of hybridisation under natural conditions. There is, however, evidence for interbreeding between bonobos and chimpanzees in captivity. We briefly (6.5 h) observed and filmed a small group of four bonobo-chimpanzee hybrids (2 males, aged 10 and 9, and 2 females aged 10 and 8).
There was clear individual variation in degree of expression of typical chimpanzee or bonobo features. In each individual, there were anatomical features reminiscent of both of the parental species: the specific bonobo-like pink coloration of the lips, the hairstyle and slender body build, the chimpanzee-like dorsal position of the female genitals, more sturdy body build and prognathism. The behaviours could be categorized less exclusively. We observed mostly female oriented interactions, including grooming, play, approaches and intersexual ventro-dorsal sex. There was one female coalition against the males. The individuals lip-smacked while grooming and performed swaggering displays. The hoots were like chimpanzee pant-hoots with an introduction, build-up and climax in a higher pitched bonobo tone and more e than o sounds. Studies on Pan in the seventies and eighties emphasised discontinuity between the two species, contrasting the male-dominated, aggressive nature of the
chimpanzee to the female-oriented, peaceful nature of the bonobo. In the nineties and in present studies, the continuity among Pan is increasingly being documented. The existence of hybrids challenges our tendency for binary thinking and points at the conceptual relativity of the species gap.
VERVAECKE (H.), STEVENS (J.) & VAN ELSACKER (L.), 2004 : Pan continuity : bonobo-chimpanzee hybrids. Folia Primatologica 75(1): 59
is in fact just a short abstract of a presentation given at the Spring 2003 meeting of the Primate Society of Great Britain.
The abstract reads:
From historical accounts it appears that natural populations of bonobos and chimpanzees have been allopatric since their phylogenetic separation. There are no accounts of hybridisation under natural conditions. There is, however, evidence for interbreeding between bonobos and chimpanzees in captivity. We briefly (6.5 h) observed and filmed a small group of four bonobo-chimpanzee hybrids (2 males, aged 10 and 9, and 2 females aged 10 and 8).
There was clear individual variation in degree of expression of typical chimpanzee or bonobo features. In each individual, there were anatomical features reminiscent of both of the parental species: the specific bonobo-like pink coloration of the lips, the hairstyle and slender body build, the chimpanzee-like dorsal position of the female genitals, more sturdy body build and prognathism. The behaviours could be categorized less exclusively. We observed mostly female oriented interactions, including grooming, play, approaches and intersexual ventro-dorsal sex. There was one female coalition against the males. The individuals lip-smacked while grooming and performed swaggering displays. The hoots were like chimpanzee pant-hoots with an introduction, build-up and climax in a higher pitched bonobo tone and more e than o sounds. Studies on Pan in the seventies and eighties emphasised discontinuity between the two species, contrasting the male-dominated, aggressive nature of the
chimpanzee to the female-oriented, peaceful nature of the bonobo. In the nineties and in present studies, the continuity among Pan is increasingly being documented. The existence of hybrids challenges our tendency for binary thinking and points at the conceptual relativity of the species gap.