'

Sex
1ne behavior of a close relative
challenges assumptions about male

supremacy in human evolution

by Frans B. M. de Waal
"

The species is best characterized as

female-centered and egalitarian and as
one that substitutes sex for aggression.
Whereas in most other species sexual
behavior is a fairly distinct category, in
the bonobo it is part and parcel of social
relations-and not just between males
and females. Bonobos engage in sex in
virtually every partner combination (although such contact among close family members may be suppressed). And
sexual interactions occur more often
among bonobos than among other primates. Despite the frequency of sex, the
bonobo's rate of reproduction in the
wild is about the same as that of the
chimpanzee. A female gives birth to a
single infant at intervals of between five
and six years. So bonobos share at least
one very Important characteristic with
our own species, namely, a parlial separation behveen sex aJIdreproduction.

logical continuity is true, the bonobo

may have undergone less transformaity with men, sdence anives with
tion than either humans or chimpana belated gift to the feminist movement.
zees. It could most closely resemble the
Male-biased evolutionary scenarioscommon ancestor of all three modern
Man the Hunter, Man the Toolmaker
species. Indeed, in the 1930s Harold].
and so on-are being challenged by the
Coolidge-the American anatomist who
discovery that females playa central,
gave the bonobo its eventual taxonomperhaps even dominant, role in the soic status-suggested that the animal
ciallife of one of our nearest relatives.
might be most similar to the primogenIn the past few years many strands of
itor, since its anatomy is less specialized
knowledge have come together conthan is the chimpanzee's. Bonobo body
cerning a relatively unknown ape with
proportions have been compared with
an unorthodox repertoire of behavior:
those of the australopithecines. a form
the bonobo.
of prehuman. When the apes stand or
2The bonobo is one of the last large
walk upright, they look as if they
mammals to be found by science. The
stepped straight out of an artist's imcreature was discovered in 1929 in a
pression of early homin1ds.
Belgian colonial museum, far from its
f Not too long ago the savanna baboon
lush African habitat. A German anatowas regarded as the best living model
mist, Ernst Schwarz, was scrutinizing a
of the human ancestor. That primate is
skull that had been ascribed to a juveadapted to the kinds of ecological con-"
nile chimpanzee because of its small
ditions that prehumans may have faced
size, when he realized that It belonged
A Near Relative
after descending from the trees. But in
to ..n adult. Schwarz declared that he
the late 1970s, chimpanzees, which are
had stumbled on a new subspecies of
T
hiS finPing comInands
attention
bemuch more closely related to hwnans,
chimpanzee. But soon the animal was
cause the bonobo shares more than
became the model of choice. Traits that
aSSigIled the status of an entirely dis- 98 percent of our genetic profile, mak- are observed ill chin1panzees-inciudtinct spedes witilln the same genus as ing it as close to a hUlnan as, say, a fox ing cooperative hunting, food sharing,
the chimpanzee, Pan.
is to a dog. The split between the hu- tool use, power politics and primitive
3 The bonobo was offidally classified man line of ancestry and the line of the warfare-were absent or not as develas Pan pamSCLlS,
or the diminutive Pan. chimpanzee and the bonobo is believed oped in baboons. In the laboratory the
But I believe a different label might
to have occurred a mere eight lnillion
apes have been able to learn sign lanhave been selected had the discoverers years ago. The subsequent divergence guage and to reCOgIllZethemselves in a
blOwn then what we know now. The old of the cl1ilnpanzeeand the bonobo lines n1irror, a sign of self-awareness not yet
ta.xonomic nanle of the chimpanzee, P. came much later, perhaps prompted by demonstrated in monkeys.
salyrus-which refers to the myth of the chimpanzee's need to adapt to rela- 8 Although selecting the chimpanzee
apes as lustful satyrs-would have been Story:
tivelyopen,
dry habitats
[see "East Side.
The Origin
of Humankind,"
by , " as the touchstone of hominid evolution
perfect for the bonobo.
represented a great improvement, at
Yves Coppens; SCIFNflfIC AMERICAN, least one aspect of the former model
did not need to be revised: male supe.May 1994].
~.In
contrast, bonobos probably nev- riority remained the natural state of afer left the protection of the trees. Their fairs. In both baboons and chimpanpresent range lies in hUlnid forests
zees,males are conspicuously dominant
south of the Zaire River, where perhaps over females; they reign supremely and
fewer than 10,000 bonobos survive. often brutally. It is higWy unusual for a
(Given the species' slow rate of reprofully grown male chimpanzee to be
duction, the rapid destruction of its domiJlated by any female.q
tropical habitat and the political insta- ' Enter the bonobo. Despite their combility of central Africa, there is reason mon name-the pygmy chimpanzeefor much concern about its future.)
bonobos cannot be distiI1guished from
If this evolutionary scenario of eco- tl1e chimpanzee by size. Adult males of
A:

which

juncture

in

women

history

are

seeking

during

equal-

s:

82

SCIENTIFIC
AMERICANMarch 1995

BONOBOFEMALEinteracts with an infant. juvenile bonobos

depend on their mothers for milk and transport for up to five

years. They are extremely well tolerated by adults, who have

rarely been seen to attack or threaten them.

the smallestsubspeciesof chimpanzee zee it may be older than 40 in the wild

\'
weighsome43 kilograms (95 pounds) and close to 60 in captivity.
and females33 kilograms(73 pounds), I ).. Fruit is central to the diets of both
about the sameas bonobos.Although wild bonobos and chimpanzees. The
femalebonobosare much smallerthan former supplement with more pith
from herbaceous plants, and the latter
the males,they seemto rule.
GracefulApes
I n physique,a bonobo Is as different
from a chimpanzeeas a Concordeis
from a Boeing747. I do not wish to offend any chimpanzees,but bonobos
have more style. The bonobo,with its
long legs and small head atop narrow
shoulders,hasa more gracilebuild than
doesa chimpanzee.
Bonobolips arereddish In a black face,the ears smalland
the nostrils almost as wide as a gorilla's. Theseprimates also havea flatter,
more openface with a higherforehead
than the chimpanzee'sand-to top it
all off-an attractivecoiffure with long,
fine, black hair neatly parted In the
middle.
II
Uke chimpanzees,female bonobos
nurseand carry around their young for
up to five years.Bythe ageof seventhe
offspring reach adolescence.Wild femalesgive birth for the first time at 13
or 14yearsof age,becomingfull grown
by about 15. A bonobo's longevity is
unknown,but judging by the chlmpan10

add meat. Although bonobos do eat invertebrates and occasionally capture

and eat small vertebrates, including
mammals, their diet seems to contain
relatively little animal protein. Unlike
chimpanzees, they have not been observed to hunt monkeys.
I~ Whereaschimpanzeesuse a rich array

of strategies to obtain foods-from

cracking nuts with stone tools to fishing for ants and termites with stickstool use in wild bonobos seems undeveloped. (Captive bonobos use tQols
skillfully.) Apparently as intelligent as
chimpanzees, bonobos have, however,
a far more sensitive temperament. During World War II bombing of Hellabrun,
Germany, the bonobos in a nearby zoo
all died of fright from the noise; the
chimpanzees were unaffected.\~
Bonobos are also imaginative in play.
I have watched captive bonobos engage
in "blindman's buff." A bonobo covers
her eyes ,vith a banana leaf or an arm
or by sticking two fingers in her eyes.
Thus handicapped,she stumbles around
on a climbing frame, bumping into oth-

ers or almost falling. She seems to be

imposing a rule on herself: "I cannot
look until I lose my balance." Other apes
and monkeys also Indulge In tWs game,
but I have never seen it performed with
such dedication and concentration as
by bonobos.
,5 Juvenile bonobos are Incurably playful and like to make funny faces, sometimes In long solitary pantomimes and
at other times while tickling one another. Bonobos are, however, more controlled In expressing their emotionswhether it be joy, sorrow, excitement or
anger-than are the extroverted chimpanzees. Male chimpanzees often engageIn spectacular charging displays In
which they show off their strength:
throwing rocks, breaking branches and
uprooting small trees In the process.
They keep up these noisy performances
for many minutes, during which most
other members of the group wisely stay
out of their way. Male bonobos, on the
other hand, usually lImit displays to a
brief run while dragging a few branches behind them.
Ib Both primates signal emotions and
Intentions through facial expressions
and hand gestures, many of which are
also present In the nonverbal communication of humans. For example,bonobos will beg by stretching out an open

SCIENTIFIC
AMERICANMarch 1995

83

\
GORILLA

BONOBO

HUMAN

BABOON

creased female sexual receptivity. The

tumescent phase of the female's genitals, resulting In a pink swelling that
3
signals willJngness to mate, covers a
ORANGUTAN
much longer part of estrus In bonobos
than In chimpanzees. Instead of a few
6
days out of her cycle, the female bonobo is almost continuously sexually at10
tractive and active [see illustration on
page 86].
~
Perhaps the bonobo's most typical
16
sexual pattern, undocumented In any
other primate, is genito-genital rubbing
(or GG rubbing) between adult females.
One female facing another clings with
22 .
arms and legs to a partner that, standMilLIONS
Ing on both hands and feet, lifts her off
OF YEARS
the ground. The two females then rub
AGO
their genital swellings laterally together,
HUMANS
OLD WORLD
emitting grins and squeals that probaAND APES
MONKEYS
bly reflect orgasmic experiences. (Laboratory experiments on stump-tailed maEVOLUllONARY TREEof primates, based on DNA analysis, shows that humans di- caques have demonstrated that women
verged from bonobos and chimpanzees a mere eight million years ago. The three i are not the oniy female primates capaspecies share more than 98 percent of their genetic makeup.
ble of physiological orgasm.)
,,'" Male bonobos, too, may engage In
pseudocopulation but generally perhand (or, sometimes, a foot) to a pos- time. As soon asa caretakerapproached form a variation. Standing back to back,
sessor of food and will pout their lips
the enclosure with food, the males one male briefly rubs his scrotum
and make whimpering sounds if the ef- would develop erections. Even before against the buttocks of another. They
fort is unsuccessful. But bonobos make the food was thrown Into the area, the also practice so-called penis-fencing, In
different sounds than chimpanzees do. bonobos would be Inviting each other which two males hang face to face from
The renowned low-pitched, extended for sex: males would Invite females, a branch while rubbing their erectpenis"huuu-huuu" pant-hooting of the latter and females would Invite males and es together.
contrasts with the rather sharp, high- other females.
'Jf 1oe diversity of erotic contacts In bopitched barking sounds of the bonobo. '\, Sex, it turned out, is the key tl;>the nobos Includes sporadic oral sex, mas~ social life of the bonobo. The first sug- sageof another Individual's genitals and
Love, Not War
gestion that the sexual behavior of bono- Intense tongue-kissing. Lest this leave
bos is different had come from obser- the impression of a pathologically over,if M y own Interest In bonobos came vations at European zoos. Wrapping sexed species, I must add, based on
not from an Inherent fascination
their findings In latin, primatologists
hundreds of hours of watching bonowith their charms but from research on Eduard Tratz and Heinz Heck reported bos, that their sexual activity is rather
aggressive behavior In primates. I was In 1954 that the chimpanzees at Hel- casual and relaxed. It appears to be a
particularly Intrigued with the afterlabrun mated more canum (like dogs) completely natural part of their group
math of conflict. After two chimpanzees and bonobos more hominum (like peo- life. Uke people, bonobos engageIn sex
have fought, for Instance, they may pie). In those days, face-to-face copula- only occasionally, not continuously.
come together for a hug and mouth-totion was considered uniquely human, a Furthermore, with the average copulamouth kiss. Assuming that such re- cultural innovation that needed to be tion lasting 13 seconds, sexual contact
unions serve to restore peace and har- taught to preliterate people (hence tIle In bonobos is rather quick by human
mony, I labeled them reconciliations.
term "missionary position"). These early standards.
Any species that combines close studies, written In German, were ig- ;-.11That sex is connected to feeding, and
~V
bonds with a potential for conflict needs nored by the International scientific es- evenappears to make food sharing possuch conciliatory mechanisms. ThInkIng tablishment. The bonobo's humanlike
sible, has been observed not only In
how much faster marriages would
sexuality needed to be rediscovered jn zoos but also In the wild. Nancy Thompbreak up if people had no way of com- the 1970s before it became accepted as son-Handler, then at the State Universipensating for hurting each other, I set characteristic of the species.
ty of New York at Stony Brook, saw boout to Investigate such mechanisms In If: Bonobos become sexually aroused nobos In Zaire's Lomako Forest engage
several primates, including bonobos.;I: remarkably easily,and they express this In sex after they had entered trees loadAlthough! expected to see peacemak- excitement In a variety of mounting po- ed with ripe figs or when one among
Ing In these apes, too, I was little pre- sitions and genital contacts. Although
them had captured a prey animal, such
pared for the form it would take.
chimpanzees virtually never adopt face- as a small forest duiker. The flurry of
It
For my study, which began In 1983, I to-face positions, bonobos do so In one sexual contacts would last for five to
chose the San Diego Zoo. At the time, it
out of three copulations In the wild.
10 minutes, after which the apes would
housed the world's largest captive bo- Furthermore, the frontal orientation of settle down to consume the food.
nobo colony-10 members divided Into
the bonobo vulva and clitoris strongly 0# One explanation for the sexual activthree groups. I spent entire days In suggest that the female genitalia are ity at feeding time could be that excitefront of the enclosure with a video cam- adapted for this position.
ment over food translates Into sexual
era, which was switched on at feeding ~ Another similarity with humans is In- arousal. This idea may be partly true.
84

SCIEN"nFIC AMERICAN March 1995

Yet anothermotivation is probablythe

real cause:competition.Thereare two
reasonsto believesexualactivity is the
bonobo'sanswerto avoidingconflict.
~
First, anything, not just food, that
arousesthe interest of more than one
bonobo at a time tendsto resultin sexual contact.If two bonobosapproacha
cardboardbox thrown into their enclosure,they will briefly mount eachother
beforeplaying with the box. Suchsituations lead to squabblesin most other
species.Butbonobosare quite tolerant,
perhapsbecausetheyuse sexto divert
attentionand to diffuse tension.
~
Second,bonobo sex often occurs in
-'aggressive contextstotally unrelatedto

food. A jealous male might chasean- ThenLeslierubbedhervulva againstWs

other awayfrom a female,after wWch shoulder.This gesturecalmedKako,and
the two males reunite and engagein he movedalong the branch. It seemed
scrotalrubbing.Or after a femalehits a that Lesliehad beenverycloseto using
juvenile,the latter's mother maylunge force but instead had reassuredboth
at the aggressor,an action that is im- herselfand Kako with sexualcontact.
mediatelyfollowed by genital rubbing 31 During reconcilIations,bonobosuse
betweenthe two adults.
the same sexualrepertoire as they do
.,~ I onceobserveda young male,Kako, during feedingtime. Basedon an analyinadvertentlyblocking an older,female sis of many such incidents, my study
juvenile, Leslie,from moving along a yielded the first solid evidencefor sexbranch.First,LesliepushedWm; Kako, ual behavioras a mechanismto overwho was not very confident in trees, comeaggression.Not that tWsfunction
tightened Wsgrip, grinning nervously. is absentin other animals-or in huNextLesliegnawedon oneof Wshands, mans, for that matter-but the art of
presumablyto loosenWsgrasp. Kako sexual reconciliation may well have
uttered a sharp peep and stayed put. reachedits evolutionary peak in the
SCIENnFICAMERICANMarch 1995

85

..

"11gators,making them wonder if these

Bonobo males remain attached to
apes formed any social groups with their mothers all their lives, following
.behavior. Given its peacemakingand stablemembersWp.Mter yearsof doc- them through the forest and being deappeasementfunctions, it is not sur- umenting the travels of cWmpanzees pendent on them for protection in agprising that sex amongbonobosoccurs in the MahaleMountains,NisWdafirst gressive encounters with other males.
in so many different partner combina- reported that they form large coInmu- As a result, the highest-ranking males
tions, including betweenjuveniles and nities: all membersof one community of a bonobo community tend to be
adults. The need for peacefulcoexis- mix freelyin everchangingparties,but sons of import~t females.
tence is obviously not restricted to membersof differentcommunitiesnev- 1K What a contrast with chimpanzees!
adult heterosexualpairs.
er gather.Later,Goodalladdedterrito- Male chimpanzees fight their own batriality to tWs picture. That is, not only tles, often relying on the support of
FemaleAlliance
do communitiesnot mix, but malesof other males. Furthermore, adult male
different cWmpanzeecommunitiesen- chimpanzees travel together in same'.~~ A part from maintaining harmony, gagein lethal battles.
sex parties, grooming each other frej-\ sexis also involvedin creatingthe 35 In both bonobos and cWmpanzees, quently. Males fonn a distinct social hisingularsocialstructureof the bonobo. males stayin their natal group,where- erarchy with high levels of both compeThis use of sex becomes clear when as femalestend to migrateduring ado- tition and association. Given the need
studyingbonobosin the wild. Field re- lescence.As a result, the seniormales to stick together againstmales of neIghsearchon bonobosstarted only in the of a cWmpanzeeor bonobogrouphave boring communities, their bonding is
mid-1970s,more than a decade after knownall junior malessincebirth, mId not surprising: failure to fonn a united
the most important studies on wild all junior maleshave grown up togeth- front might result in the loss of lives
chimpanzees had been initiated. In er. Females,on the other hand,transfer and territory. The danger of being male
termsof continuityand invested(wo)m- to an unfamiliarand oftenhostilegroup is reflected in the adult sex ratio of
anpower,the chimpanzeeprojects of where they may know no one. A cWef i chimpanzee populations, with considJane Goodall and Toshisada Nishida, difference between cWmpanzeeand erably fewer males than females.
both in Tanzania,are unparalleled.But bonobo societiesis the way in wWch :?i Serious conflict between bonobo
bonobo research by Takayoshi Kano young femalesintegrateinto their new' groups has been witnessed in the field,
and others of Kyoto Universityis now community.
but It seems quite rare. On the contwo decadesunder way at Wambain 3' On arrival in another community, trary, reports exist of peaceable minZaire and is beginning to show the youngbonobofemalesat Wambasingle gling, including mutual sex and groomsamepayoffs.
out one or two seniorresidentfemales ing, between what appear to be differ1?, Both bonobos and chimpanzeeslive for specialattention,using frequentGG ent communities. If intergroup combat
in so-calledfission-fusionsocieties.The rubbingand groomingto establisha re- is indeed unusual, it may explain the
apesmove alone or in small parties of lation. If the residentsreciprocate,close lower rate of all-male associations.
a few individuals at a time,the compo- associationsare set up, and the young- Rather than being male-bonded,bonobo
sition of which changes constantly. er female graduallybecomesaccepted society gives the impression of being
Severalbonobos traveling together in into the group.Mter producinghet first female-bonded, with even adult males
the mornIng might meetanothergroup offspring, the young female's position relying on their mothers instead of on
in the forest,whereuponone individual becomesmore stableand central. Even- other males. No wonder Kano calls
from the first group wandersoff with tually the cycle repeats with younger mothers the "core" of bonobo society.
others from the second group, while immigrants,in turn, seekinga goodre- ~ The bonding among female bonobos
those left behind forage together. All lation with the now establishedfemale. violates a fairly general rule, outlined
associations,except the one between Sex thus smooths the migrant's en- by Harvard University anthropologist
mother and dependent offspring, are trance into the community of females, Richard W. Wrangham, that the sex that
wWchis much more dose-knit in the stays in the natal group develops the
of a temporarycharacter.
strongestmutual bonds. Bonding among
1v Initially this flexibility baffled investi- bonobothan in the cWmpanzee.
~onobo. For these arumals, sexual behavJor is indistinguishable from social

male chimpanzees follows naturally because they remain in the community of

their birth. The same Is true for female
kinship bonding in Old World monkeys,
such as macaques and baboons, where
males are the migratory sex.
Y/ Bonobos are unique in that the miI
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
.I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
u. .
gratory sex, females, strongly bond with
0
--="'r
same-sex strangers later in life. In set~
f
/
ting up an artificial sisterhood, bonoW
j
/
bos can be said to be secondarily bondS
/
J
ed. (Kinship bonds are said to be primary.) Although we now know how this
happens-through
the use of sexual
I
I
I
I
I
1
_I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
.I
I
contact and grooming-we do not yet
48
64
80
96
0
16
32
know why bonobos and chimpanzees
.MENSTRUATION
[ )AYS
differ in this respect. The answer may
lie
in the different ecological environFEMALE RECEYnvrrY for sex, manifestt !d by swollen genitals, occupies a much)onobos
(top) than of chimpanzees (bot- ments of bonobos and chimpanzeeslarger proportion of the estrus cycle of I
tom). The receptivity of bonobos continu es through lactation. (In chimpanzees, it such as the abundance and quality of
disappears.)This circumstance allows sex to playa large part in the social relations food in the forest. But it is uncertain if
of bonobos. The graph was provided by J4~remy Dahl of the Yerkes Prul1ateCenter. such explanations will suffice.

--

86

SCIENI'IFICAMERICANMarch 1995

~.

BONOBO

d
DOMINANCE BY BONDING is evinced by female bonobos,
who engagein genito-geniral (GG) rubbing before eating sugarcane (a), while a bigger male displays ro no avail. The females t.henshare t.hefood wit.hout competition (b). Only when
they leave can rhe male ger to rhe sugarcane (c). In maJe-

dominated chimpanzee society the male eats first (d), while

tile females wait at a safe distance. After he leaves (e), canying
as many bananasas he can, the dominant female gets what is
left (n. (Small amounts of sugarcaneand bananas are provided at some research sites in Zaire.)

1/"2- Bonobosocietyis, however,not only 111 In the bonobo group, it was the fe- ologlst TakeshiFurulchi's summaryof
female-centeredbut also appearsto be males that approachedthe honeyfirst. the relation betweenthe sexesat Wamfemale-dominated.Bonobo specialists, After havingengagedin someGGrub- ba, where bonobos are enticed out of
while long suspecting such a reality, bing, they would feed together,taking the forest with sugarcane.
"Malesusualhavebeenreluctantto make thecontro- turns with virtually no competitionbe- ly appearedat the feedingsite first, but
verslal claim. But in 1992, at the 14th tweenthem. The male might make as they surrenderedpreferred positions
Congressof the InternationalPrimato- manychargingdisplaysas he wanted; whenthe femalesappeared.It seemed
logical Societyin Strasbourg,investiga- the femaleswere not intimidated and that malesappearedfirst not because
tors of both captive and wild bonobos Ignoredthe commotion.
they were dominant,but becausethey
presented data that left little doubt y~ Observersat the Belgiananimalpark had to feed before the arrival of feaboutthe issue.
of Planckendael,which currently has males,"Furuichlreportedat Strasbourg.
~3 Amy R. Parish of the University of the most naturalistic bonobo colony,
California at Davis reported on food reported similar findings. If a male
Sex for Food
competition in Identical groups (one bonobo tried to harassa female,all fe- 1{1-adult male and two adult females)of males would band together to chase O ccasionally,
the
role
of
sex in relachimpanzees

and

bonobos

at

the

him

off.

Because

females

appeared

more

tion

StuttgartZoo. Honeywasprovidedin a successfulin dominating males when

"termite hill" from which It could be they were together than on their own,
extractedby dipping sticks Into a small their close associationand frequent
hole.As soonas honeywasmadeavall- gerlital rubbing may represent an alable,the malechimpanzeewould make liance.Femalesmaybond so as to outa charging display through the enclo- competemembersof the individually
sure and claim everything for himself. strongersex.
Only when his appetite was satisfied f~ The fact that they manageto do so
would he let the femalesfish for honey. not onlyin captivityis evidentfrom zo-

to

food

is

taken

one

step

fur-

ther, bringing bonobos very close to

humans in their behavior. It has been
speculatedby anthropologists-including C. OwenLovejoyof KentStateUniversltyand HelenFisherof RutgersUniversity-that sexis partially separated
from reproduction in our speciesbecauseit servesto cementmutuallyprof.
itable relationships betweenmen and

SCIENTIFIC
AMERICANMarch 1995

87

BEHAVIoRamong bonobos is often reminiscent of that among

humans. A female and an infant play (left); two juveniles
practice sex without penetration (top center); a bonobo walks
SI>

'If

'I~

upright, using Ius hands to carry food (right); and a male and
female have sex (boltom cellter), after which the female
leaves with one of tile male's two oranges.

women. The human female's capacitY

Despite such quid pro quo between cations for models of human society.
to mate throughout her cycle and her the sexes,there are no indications that 53 just imagine that we had never heard
strong sex drive allow her to exchange bonobos form humanlike nuclear faml- of chimpanze~s or baboons and had
sex for male commitment and paternal lies. The burden of raising offspring ap- known bonobos first. Wewould at prescare, thus giving rise to the nuclear pears to rest entirely on the female's ent most likely believe that early homlnfamily.
shoulders. In fact, nuclear families are ids lived ill female-centered societies,In
This arrangement is thought to be fa- probably incompatible with the diverse which sex served important social funcvored by natural selection because It al- use of sex found in bonobos. If our an- tlons and in which warfare was rare or
lows women to raise more offspring
cestors started out with a sex life simi- absent. In the end, perhaps the most
than they could If they were on their lar to that of bonobos, the evolution of successful reconstruction of our past
own. Although bonobos clearly do not the family would haverequired dramatic will be based not on chimpanzees or
establish the exclusive heterosexual change.
even on bonobos but on a three-way
bonds characteristic of our species, Sf Human family life implies paternal
comparison of chimpanzees, bonobos
their behavior does fit important ele- investment, which is unlikely to devel- and humans.
ments of this model. A female bonobo
op unless males can be reasonably cershows extended receptivity and uses tain that they are caring for their OWll,
sex to obtain a male's favors whennot someone else's, offspring. Bonobo
usually because of youth-she Is too society lacks any such guarantee, but
low in social status to dominate him.
humans protect the integrity of their
At the San DIego Zoo, I observed that family units tllrough all kinds of moral
If Loretta was in a sexually attractive
restrictions and taboos. Thus, although
state, she would not hesitate to ap- our species is characterized by an exproach the adult male, Vernon; If he traordlnary interest in sex, there are no
had food. Presenting herself to Vernon, societies in which people engage in it
she would mate with him and make at tile drop of a hat (or a cardboard box,
high-pitched food calls while taking over as the case may be). A sense of shame
his entire bundle of branches and leaves. and a desire for domestic privacy are
When Loretta had no genital swelling, typical human concepts related to the
she would wait until Vernon was ready evolution and cultural bolstering of the
to share. Prirnatologist Suehlsa Kuroda family.
reports similar exchanges at Wamba: 52- Yet no degree of moralizing can make
IIA young female approached a male, sex disappear from every realm of huwho was eating sugarcane. They copu- man life that does not relate to the nulated in short order, whereupon she clear family. The bonobo's behavioral
took one of the two canes held by him peculiartties may help us understand the
and left."
role of sex and may have serious Impli88

SCIENI1F1C
AMERICAN March 1995