Bonobo

The Bonobo (Pan paniscus), until recently usually called the Pygmy Chimpanzee and less often the Dwarf or Gracile Chimpanzee, is one of the two species comprising the chimpanzee genus, Pan. The other species in genus Pan is Pan troglodytes, or the Common Chimpanzee. Both species are chimpanzees, and the term "chimpanzee" can be used either to refer to the larger of the two species, Pan troglodytes, or to both species together. To avoid confusion, this article follows the growing trend to use "chimpanzee" to refer only to both members of the genus.

The Bonobo was discovered in 1928, by American anatomist Harold Coolidge, represented by a skull in the Tervuren museum in Belgium that was thought to have belonged to a juvenile chimpanzee, though credit for the discovery went to the German Ernst Schwarz, who published the findings in 1929. The species is distinguished by an upright gait, a matriarchal culture, and the prominent role of sexual activity in their society.

This primate is mainly frugivorous, but supplements its diet with plants and sometimes small vertebrates (such as flying squirrels and infant duikers) and invertebrates.