Whats Love Got to Do With It?

Meredith F. Small

Bonobos (Pan paniscus) a rare

species of chimplike ape in which
frequent couplings and casual sex
play characterize every social
relationship:
a. males-females
b. same sex
c. closely related
animals and;
d. total strangers
also known as pygmy
chimpanzees but are not
really pygmies but
welterweights
live only a small patch
of land in Zaire, Central
Africa
often stand and walk
in two legs
more delicate in build;
arms and legs are slender
than chimpanzees
sexual behavior is
more human

History

5 mya- human beings and

chimps shared a common
ancestor: long period of
infant dependency, a
reliance on learning what to
eat, how to obtain food,
social bonds that persist
over generations, and the
need to deal as a group with
many everyday concepts

1920s They were first

identified on the basis of
skeletal material.
1970s Their behavior in
the wild was studied.

Why study about bonobos?

For tantalizing clues to the

origins of human sexuality.
The path of evolution is not
a straight line from either
species the bonobo
information gives us more
possibilities for looking at
human origins. (Zihlman,
University of California)
Australopithecines, earliest
known non-ape ancestors,
has body proportions similay
to those of bonobos.
To remind us that our
heritage may very well
include a primordial urge to
make love, not war.
(connection between sex
and social cohesion)
Assumption that chimp
behavior today may be
similar to the behavior of
human ancestors.
Bonobo behavior offers
another window on the past

because they too, shared

our 5-million-year-old
ancestor, diverging from
chimps for the simple
reason that they are
difficult to find
In the sexual arena, bonobos
are the more appropriate
ancestral model.

Sexual Behavior of
Bonobos

Males and females frequently

copulate face-to-face,
uncommon position
Sex is separated from
reproduction- treat sex as a
pleasurable activity.
They rely on it as a sort of
social glue.
Even juveniles participate by
rubbing their genital areas
against adults
Sex decreases tensions
caused by potential
competition, often for food.
The sight of food triggers a
binge of sex.
Sexual behavior also occurs
after aggressive encounters,
especially among males.
*Sex is just a way bonobos
deal with competition over
limited resources and with
the normal tensions caused
by living in a group.

Female bonobo sexuality isnt

locked into a monthly cycle.
Female regularly use sex to
cement relationship with
other females.
Sometimes, females would
rather GG-rub with each
other than copulate with a
male.
*GG-rub or Genital-genital
Rubbing is the most frequent
behavior used by bonobo
females to reinforce social
ties/relieve tension.
-occurs in the presence of
food
Females are the one who the
group when they reach
sexual maturity, around the
age of eight, work their way
into unfamiliar groups.
Female bonobos cannot be
coerced into anything,
including sex.
The function is to form an
alliance. These alliances are
serious business because
they determine the pecking
order at food sites.
Bonobo females are not
afraid of males and the
sexes mingle peacefully.
(Egalitarian relationships)