Bonobos And Chimpanzees: A Comparative Analysis

In discovering the capabilities of bonobos and chimpanzees making use of sophisticated pre-agricultural tools this potentially changes the way hominin evolution developed. Such usage of tools was once regarded as a particular characteristic of archaic pre-humans. Bonobos were observed performing complex action such as using tools to extract food, or using spears for attack or defense.
Bonobos are similar to chimpanzees, but previously bonobos did not show a cultural diversity in use of tools as much as their chimpanzee siblings. In studies of chimpanzees for example, they have been able to use branches to dig for tubers or turn them into spears in order to hunt for small prosimians. The study by Roffman had two bonobos that grew up in a human environment and had the ability to use a range of early homo type stone tools in order to extract food. The study even went further by teaching the bonobos to communicate through English Lexigram symbols. This enabled the bonobos to converse rationally with humans.
Roffman continued his study with other bonobos; all the bonobos observed were those held in a sanctuary or a zoo, and observe if they are …show more content…
Roffman finds this new evidence to be significant because of how little bonobos had been observed living in nature in past studies. Since observations were taken of bonobos living in areas rich in resource the evidence of past studies had been too narrow minded, drawing conclusions for the whole species based off these few groups of bonobos. Roffman is able to compare two different groups and draw new conclusions using these new observations. Additional data that could further support his findings are studying bonobos under other survival challenges and under social interactions. Roffman could study bonobos experiencing different conditions that implement the use potential in