Under a Creative Commons license, this article is re-posted. The article is open in a new tab.
Animals compete for resources in order to survive. A recent study shows that Chimpanzees andGorillas form bonds that last at least 20 years. They eat together.
It is the first study to show long-term peaceful associations between apes. The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by Crickette Sanz from Washington University.
Chimpanzees and gorilla are fiercely territorial. Both species will fight for their territory. Chimpanzees kill people who stray into their territory. A group of Chimpanzees in Central Africa killed young gorillas and even saw a female eat an infant gorilla over a three year period.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...
I was surprised to learn that the two ape species sometimes form unions. The fact that these species can live peacefully in one place for a long time is fascinating.
Young adult male primate tend to be more outgoing and curious than other members of their troop. In the new study, scientists found that juvenile humans travel long distances alone to play with other humans.
It can be risky to mix with other groups. The two species were not alert to each other. Chimpanzees and gorilla females with young offspring bond with each other, as did the entire spectrum of age ranges. Chimpanzees mimicked the gorilla chest beat. When they met each other, neither species made alarm calls.
The next task for researchers is to figure out what is different between the behavior of the Chimpanzees andGorillas in the home ranges in the Republic ofCongo andGabon.
Chimpanzees and gorillas eat the same food, and most of the amiable interactions the scientists recorded were of the apes feeding on fruit trees.
Why do you allow someone to gatecrash your buffet? The figs are a valuable resource. The trees only produce fruit for a short time. Fruiting is done at random. If gorillas or Chimpanzees find ripe ones, they might be better off not fighting each other. Staying close enough to eavesdrop on what the other people are doing could give them an advantage. Chimpanzees tend to eat more fruit than gorilla. The Republic of Congo's gorillas have a higher fruit diet than normal, which may explain their unusual behavior around the local Chimpanzees.
It's important to have as many eyes on the leopard as you can. Both species were able to respond to predator alarm calls. They shared information about animals.
There are many species that work together to survive. In search of good pasture and safe places to breed, a group of animals gather in their thousands each year. There are alliances between other monkey species, such as the putty-nosed and Diana monkeys of the Ta National Park in West Africa.
Clues about how humans might have evolved could be given by these discoveries. Cross-species tolerance and friendship were shown by different human species. Mental health can be boosted by owning a pet and friendship can reduce stress. It would be interesting to see if apes like having a friend.
We know these could be more common than we think. Researchers only study one or the other species in places where Chimpanzees andGorillas share habitats. The species that is not used to being seen by a research team will run away. For a long time, researchers work with species.
Chimpanzees and gorillas are both listed on the red list of threatened species. The study shows how important it is to preserve the natural world so that we don't lose sight of our relatives' fascinating behaviors.
It was originally published on The Conversation
All Rights Reserved © 2024
