Another Primate to Consider

This post is one of the happier ones...

We're learning about the Great Apes, or the Old World Monkeys in my Human Biology class. Most of the primates live in male-dominated, male-centered communities with females as secondary individuals in each society. Most of the primates only have heterosexual sex.

The Chimpanzee is generally regarded to be the most closely related primate to humans. In chimp communities, food is passed on in this order: the alpha male, the close friends of the alpha male, other males, and finally, females are able to eat the scraps. Now, a species of primate that is just as genetically related to us challenges assumptions about male supremacy and norms of sexuality in human evolution.

Enter the Bonobo. I won't give all of the juicy nerdy super-science-ie details, but the bonobo lives in female-dominated, female-centered groups. Status of males depends on status of their mothers (a stark contrast to human societies), and females are given priority access to food. Additionally, casual sex occurs in every possible partner combination. The Bonobo has separated sex from reproduction, and uses sex as a way to diffuse tension and prevent aggression. Aggression is virtually non-existent in bonobo communities because sex is used so effectively to calm anxiety.

The last paragraph of an article:
"Just imagine that we had never heard of chimpanzees or baboons and had known bonobos first. We would at present most likely believe that early hominids lived in female-centered societies in which sex served important social functions and which warfare was rare or absent."

And bonobos are so cute! Just look at them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo
And if you're super-interested, an article: http://www.bio.utexas.edu/courses/kalthoff/bio346/PDF/Readings/02de_Waal(1995)BonoboSoc.pdf

-Darlenica