Bonobos Join Chimps As Closest Human Relatives

sciencehabit writes "Chimpanzees now have to share the distinction of being our closest living relative in the animal kingdom. An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the bonobo for the first time, confirming that it shares the same percentage of its DNA with us as chimps do. The team also found some small but tantalizing differences in the genomes of the three species—differences that may explain how bonobos and chimpanzees don't look or act like us even though we share about 99% of our DNA."

Comments

Bonobo Chimpanzee

[busyqth]

What reason is there to consider the Bonobo and Chimpanzee different species?
Is it just a matter of behavior? If so, has it been proven that the behavioral differences aren't cultural?

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[i kan reed]

Assuming you're not trolling here:

There's morphic phenotypes that are different, for one. Bonobos are actually a lot smaller than chimps as mature adults. They are also much less able to solve complex puzzles, a difference that persists even when raised in complete separation of others from their own species. There's also the biological definition of species that requires that they be able to interbreed, we have never seen that happen.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[nospam007]

"Is it just a matter of behavior? "

That too. Chimps will fuck you up, given the chance, Bonobos will just fuck you.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[i kan reed]

Irrelevant. Geographic separation is a direct cause of speciation. Gene pools stop mixing, genetic drift pushes two similar groups far enough apart that they are no longer compatible.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[ShanghaiBill]

So Chihuahuas and Great Danes are different species?

No. They may be physically incompatible, but they are not genetically incompatible. If you inseminate a Great Dane with Chihuahua semen, it would have fertile puppies. Additionally, they could both interbreed with dogs of intermediate size. If A is the same species as B and B is the same species as C, then A is the same species as C.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[jez9999]

I take issue with that campaign about bonobos being the most intelligent ape. Humans deserve at least an honourable mention.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[Mindcontrolled]

That's for history to decide. Which, of course, will be written by the victorious species. I for one preemptively welcome or future bonobo overlords.

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[rthille]

Bonobos spent a greater percentage of their lives copulating. I think it's pretty obvious which species is more intelligent...

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[rthille]

Not so. See "Ring Species"

Re:Bonobo Chimpanzee

[ZigiSamblak]

Well, that does explain why they don't visit Slashdot.

No real surprise here

[doston]

Always figured they were closely related to man, considering how endlessly horny they are.

1% of three billion

[Bill, Shooter of Bul]

Three billion DNA pairs in human dna. 1% is 30 million. So we differ by 30 million dna pairs. To the layperson, saying we have 30 million differences explains the differences quite well versus 99% in common.

Re:1% of three billion

[codewarren]

The difference from humans to other humans can be 3 million base pairs, (0.1%), for perspective. 30 million (a factor of 10) doesn't seem like that much.

Re:1% of three billion

[Anonymous Coward]

Humans have 23 chromosome pairs.... 46 chromosomes in total. In women, there are 2 X and in males, 1X and 1Y. Males of our species share 45/46 or 98% with females.

Explains why I understand male monkeys much better than female humans

Oooh Oooh Ah Ah Ah

Re:False

[dietdew7]

Is she a bonobo or a chimpanzee?

Re:Chimps?

[alva_edison]

Well dog == wolf == dingo is true, they are all Canis lupus (C. lupus familiaris, C. lupus lupus, C. lupus dingo).

Coyote and Jackal (and occassionally wolf) are used for other species within the Canis genus, so are closely related.

Foxes are members of the same sub-family, but a different genus, so the least related among the bunch.

Also Canis Lupus and Canis latrans are able to produce viable offspring, but the viability decreases across generations. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canis_lupus_X_Canis_latrans

Re:uninteresting consequence of the decimal system

[SpeZek]

We're related to just about every living thing on this planet that has a face. I think that's pretty mind blowing.

Nope. We're related to every living thing on this planet full stop .

After all, we all share the same ancestor if you go back far enough.

Re:Nope...

[Grayhand]

I didn't come from no monkey's butthole

It's an honest mistake. Most people just assume there's a family resemblance.

I fail to see how this is surprising

[Xtifr]

Doesn't the evidence show that bonobos and chimps split from their common ancestor long after protohumans split from the common ancestor of all three? In which case, isn't this more-or-less exactly what you'd expect?

Re:No...

[Tyler Durden]

When I tell my dog not to behave like a little wolf, he can reasonably argue that he is one, just one adapted for a specific ecological niche.

If your dog's making reasonable arguments then he's filling a rare ecological niche indeed. Impressive!