Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Chewing dinosaurs, climate change, self-sacrificing ants and black bears
- By Amanda Bensen, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Anika Gupta and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, December 2008
Primatologists have documented three instances of bonobos killing monkeys. (Frans Lanting / Corbis)
Bonobos are known as the peace-loving members of the hominid family, led by females and solving conflicts with love, not war. Now, for the first time, primatologists in Congo have documented three instances of bonobos killing monkeys. In contrast to chimpanzees—which hunt and live in male-dominated groups—the bonobo hunting parties included females. So much for the idea that, among apes, hunting is related to male aggression.
Additional Sources
"Sauropod Gigantism," P. Martin Sander and Marcus Clauss, Science, October 10, 2008
"Unanticipated consequences of ocean acidification: A noisier ocean at lower pH," Keith C. Hester et al., Geophysical Research Letters, October 1, 2008
"Preemptive Defensive Self-Sacrifice by Ant Workers," Adam Tofilski et al., The American Naturalist, November 2008
"Carnivores, urban landscapes, and longitudinal studies: a case history of black bears," Jon P. Beckmann and Carl W. Lackey, Human-Wildlife Conflicts, Fall 2008
"Primate hunting by bonobos at LuiKotale, Salonga National Park," Marin Surbeck and Gottfried Hohmann, Current Biology, October 14, 2008
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