The bonobo monkey is a type of extraordinary primate that shares almost the vast majority of our DNA, very much like chimpanzees.
However these primates, local just to Democratic Republic of the Congo, are in many cases eclipsed by their all the more notable chimp cousins. Western researchers frequently considered them the “dwarf chimp” until 1929, when bonobo monkeys were formally acknowledged as a different animal groups.
Also like chimps, bonobos live in fission-fusion societies, meaning that smaller “parties” will split off from the maintroop to forage elsewhere for the day, so the composition of groups often changes. The older females in the group usually decide when and which way they will travel.
Bonobos are famous for their frequent use of copulation to smooth over disagreements and calm anxious family members. They’re also willing to share food, not only with friends, but with bonobos they don’t know.
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