Monday, February 20, 2012

Evolutionary Background- Close relatives- Taxonomy


Chimpanzees have been around for millions of years but the name chimpanzee originated sometime in the 1700’s.  This name is loosely translated as “ape” or “mockman”.  Chimpanzees are categorized in the family homindae, which is also home to humans, gorillas, and orangutans.   It is believed that chimpanzees spilt from humans about 4 million years ago but remain our closest relative.

Sometime around the 1950’s scientists learned that by comparing the proteins and nucleic acids of two “different” species they would be able to see just how similar or different they really are (the genetic distance). Scientists have been successful in comparing chimpanzees to humans and have discovered the difference between the two is too small to measure.  Similarities between chimpanzees and humans are seen in their blood proteins among other aspects of our DNA.  Mary Clare- King and A.C. Wilson have suggested the small differences that are seen between humans and chimpanzees are a result of regulatory mutation.  Through numerous comparisons, scientists have been able to find the comparison level between chimpanzees and humans is about 99% identical.  This percent fluctuates between 96-99% between different articles, either way; the resemblance between the two is large.  An article found on the National Geographic website states humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor who lived over 5 million years ago.

The taxonomy of chimpanzees is as follows:
Suborder: Haplorrhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: Hominidae (humans are here)
Genus: Pan
Species: P. troglodytes
Subspecies: P. t. schweinfurthiiP. t. troglodytesP. t. vellerosusP. t. verus

Both human and chimpanzee fossils have been found in the East African Rift Valley during the Middle 
Pleistocene from many years ago.  Research has been successful in showing the large similarities between chimpanzees and humans.Chimpanzees are closely related to humans and bonobos.  Many other species from the genus Pan have not survived.

References:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

It's What's For Dinner: Chimpanzee Eating Habits

The majority of a chimpanzee's diet consists of fruit, leaves, seeds, and insects. Variance in a chimpanzee's diet is due to the particular time of year and availability of different food in the wild. An article found on the Honolulu Zoo’s website discusses that chimps may consume over 20 different species in a given day, and over 200 different species in a given year. That’s quite a smorgasbord!

Termites a common choice for chimps because they are a great source of protein. Termites are gathered either by hand or by use of handmade tools. Birds and other mammals are sometimes on a chimp’s dinner menu, but far more rarely than fruit, veggies, or termites.

Groups of individual chimpanzees often work together to hunt for food as a team- for example, one individual will seek out the most abundant area in the forest and bring the rest of the group out to that area, or bring back food for the group. This group structure is also used to protect from prey.

Chimps also drink water, often by soaking up moisture in the leaves they eat. Fruit is also an important part of their diet, as fruit often has a great deal of moisture present in it.

We found a video from the Jane Goodall institute, demonstrating how chimpanzees use sticks as tools to engage in "termite fishing". One of the researchers says that he sometimes eats termites and that they taste like cashews. Would you ever eat one of these delicacies? You couldn’t dare us!

Here's the link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inFkERO30oM&feature=related