Aggressive bonobos, bacteria to fight dengue, & hybrid butterflies | Last Week in Science (21 March 2024)
The upside of being aggressive Chimpanzees are known to be more aggressive than bonobos and also humans. A recent study has challenged this view, finding bonobos to be more aggressive than chimps. They observed these great apes behaviour from the moment they woke up to when they returned back to their nests. The findings were startling. Bonobos were 2 times more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour than chimps. While chimps are known to even show aggression towards females, in bonobos, it was restricted to male-male aggression. The scientists explained that chimps are known to form groups, and higher level of aggression can affect the group dynamics. This unrest within a group can compromise their ability to defend the group. On the other hand, bonobos do not engage in inter-group politics and are thought of as being more individualistic. Unlike the well planned killings by chimps, the aggression of bonobos is thought of as more passive i.e., not planned and rarely leading to the k
