Comments on: Chimpanzees take risks but bonobos play it safe

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:27:25 +0000

Great post. And this is really just nitpicking, but it’s actually the LEIpzig Zoo in Germany

By: Ed Yong

Ed Yong — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:44:00 +0000

Matlatzinca – I’ve written some stuff on game theory and it’s definitely a field I want to know more about.
Doug – interesting theory. Other readers will probably be able to comment more on the issue of neoteny but I do agree that it would be interesting to see Hielbronner’s experiments repeated on chimps and bonobos at different stages of development.
Jerzy – the sample size is indeed small and means that we should be cautious about interpreting the data. But it’s not a reason to discount them, especially since the attitudes to risk were still consistent at an individual level.

By: Jerzy

Jerzy — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:40:20 +0000

Frankly, sample size of 5 is too small.
Consider that somebody tested 5 related British and 5 related French. Obviously everybody would agree that this tells nothing about all British and all French.

By: doug l

doug l — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 19:16:42 +0000

I have to wonder if this expression of behavior has ever been examined from the perspective of neotony. It’s almost as if bonobos were an expression of what we think of as adult chimpanzees but carrying along a lot of the traits from adolescence such as gracile skeletal structure, instinctual social structure more focused on mothers and females as would a less mature chimp, and now the issue of risk taking where one would expect a younger chimp not under the full sway of its full potential for testosterone might be less inclined to take risks.
It seems to me for humans to judge what is a riskier environment in which Chimps and Bonobos have evolved would depend on our knowing just how the chimps and bonobos saw those environments during their developemental stages and so far human understanding of the paleo-environment has been sketchy at best with lots of extrapolation, interpretation and not a few plain old good guesswork. I don’t exactly know where the genetic differences that set bonobos apart from chimps are but I wouldnt’ be surprised if they were located along the line we associate with those areas associated with degree of sex hormone production.

By: Matlatzinca

Matlatzinca — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:28:24 +0000

Ed – Have you done much reading on game theory? I wonder if there are similar experiments to this that could be done on other primates that might shed some light on evolved risk-assessment strategies. Could this be a way to test some of the claims in evolutionary psychology?

By: J-Dog

J-Dog — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:38:40 +0000

Hey – Obama Girl is WEARING a Bonobo T-Shirt in her newest video. You got to link to a picture dude!