Chimpanzee (often shortened to chimp) is the common name for the two extant species of apes in the genus Pan. The better known chimpanzee is Pan troglodytes, the Common Chimpanzee, living primarily in West, and Central Africa. Its cousin, the Bonobo or "Pygmy Chimpanzee" as it is known archaically, Pan paniscus, is found in the forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo River forms the boundary between the two species.

Chimpanzees are members of the Hominidae family, along with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. The two chimpanzee species are the closest living relatives to humans; all being members of the Hominini tribe (along with extinct species of Hominina subtribe). Chimpanzees are the only known members of the Panina subtribe.

Measurements

A fully grown adult male chimpanzee can weigh from 35-70 kilograms (75-155 lb) and stand 0.9-1.2 metres (3-4 ft) tall, while females usually weigh 26-50 kg (57-110 lb) and stand 0.66-1 m (2-3½ ft) tall.

Lifespan

Chimpanzees rarely live past the age of 40 in the wild, but have been known to reach the age of more than 60 in captivity. Cheeta, star of Tarzan is still alive as of 2008 at the age of 76, making him the oldest known chimpanzee in the world.

Speciation

The Common Chimpanzee and the Bonobo do not swim. It has been suggested that the formation of the Congo River 1.5-2 million years ago separated the ancestors of the Bonobo south of the river, from the ancestors of the Common Chimpanzee to the north of the river. This event is thought to have triggered the speciation of the two chimpanzee species.

Chimpanzee differences

The Bonobo, on the other hand, has a mostly frugivorous diet and an egalitarian, nonviolent, matriarchal, sexually receptive behaviour. The exposed skin of the face, hands and feet varies from pink to very dark in both species, but is generally lighter in younger individuals, darkening as maturity is reached. The Bonobo has proportionately longer upper limbs and tends to walk upright more often than the Common Chimpanzee. A University of Chicago Medical Centre study has found significant genetic differences between chimpanzee populations. Different groups of chimpanzees also have different cultural behaviour with preferences for types of tools.

The Common Chimpanzee tends to display higher levels of aggression than the Bonobo.

History of human interaction

Africans have had contact with chimpanzees for millennia. Chimpanzees have been kept as domesticated pets for centuries in a few African villages, especially in Congo. The first recorded contact of Europeans with chimps took place in present-day Angola during the 1600s. The diary of Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira (1506), preserved in the Portuguese National Archive (Torre do Tombo), is probably the first European document to acknowledge that chimpanzees built their own rudimentary tools.