CULTURE

Female Bonding And Dominance
Bonobos live in large groups which split into smaller groups during the day in the search for food. Both, the larger and the smaller groups, are ran by adult females and consist of the adult female‘s young, her sons and their female partners.
Generally female dominance within various species of primates is far more common than previously reported.
Among chimpanzees, female coalitions are more solid and enduring then male ones.

Male Bonding And Dominance
Chimpanzee males bond with other males for survival, hierarchy and territory.
Male bonobos bond primarily with their leader-mothers, demonstrating a low level of bonding and conflict in all male groups. They do, however, bond sexually with everyone of their species.
Chimpanzees live in a patriarchal social structure, in which as youths they enjoy a temporarily preferential leadership role of alpha males, followed by a decrease in status with age. For this reason, they form relatively short-term coalitions which share food in exchange for cooperation, territory patrolling, protection and expansion, the maintenance of power, status and social hierarchy. The alphas are expected to maintain a balance between diplomacy and aggression.
Dominants discipline subordinates through threat and attack, acting as punishment for disobedience. The same subordinates then relieve their frustrations through aggressive behavior directed at other inferiors.
In physical fights and as a display of dominance they use their canines and tools, comparable to the archaic Homo.

Matriarchy
Bonobos have a matriarchal social system in which adult females bond with each other, as well as with young female newcomers from other groups. Their culture shows us that a high social status of females is the most effective method of ensuring peace and successful survival of consecutive generations.

Territorial War
In their male dominated societies, the chimpanzees are aggressively territorial, patrolling, regularly raiding neighboring groups, creating chaos, split communities, repeat wars with systematic mass murder of the rivaling group’s males and infants, kidnapping and violation of females and occupation of territory.
Comparable to the contemporary genocide in Darfur and many other places and times throughout human evolution and history, acting as proof that a quadrupled brain is useless without female leadership.
The territorial obsession leads to anxiety expressed through aggression within the group and particularly toward autonomous subgroups (potential non-followers).
While the chimpanzees waste energy destroying life, the bonobos exchange sexual pleasantries before moving on.

Conflict Resolution
Chimpanzees make peace by hugging, kissing and cuddling, initiated by inferiors.
Among the bonobo, conflict is avoided or limited to displays of dominance on part of the females. For the purpose of reconciliation, as well as in place of meeting strangers with violence, the bonobos make up with orgasmic sex, initiated by superiors.

Infanticide And Cannibalism
Adult male chimpanzees attack both local and stranger females, killing and eating their male infants and children, who are often their own offspring.
As a countermeasure, female chimpanzees mate with alpha males, among others, in an attempt to avoid infanticide and gain protection from males they choose not to engage with.
Additionally, lower ranking female chimpanzee infants are at risk on the hands of higher ranking female chimpanzees.
Among matriarchal bonobos, infanticide and cannibalism does not occur, even though they do eat monkeys, a commonality among primates. To hinder occasional male aggression female bonobos assume the dominant role through solidarity among themselves.

Safety
For the bonobos, safety is one of the main priorities. For protection, the females often group together to scare off any potentially dangerous males. If necessary, force is used by females for protection of group members or food supplies.
Chimpanzee mothers protect their offspring and vice versa.

Peace And Harmony
The bonobo evolved into a distinct species most likely due to the higher intelligence of the female leaders striving to secure a greater quality of life for their offspring, in contrast to the chaotic ways of the common chimpanzee.

Female Majority
Chimpanzees are prone to violence and murder among males, resulting in higher numbers of females within groups. Despite a female majority, the chimpanzee females are of inferior status in relation to the males.
A possible explanation: lower intellectual development in comparison to female bonobos.

Woman Power
Adult bonobo females dominate all males and younger females. Female social and sexual bonding occurs on all levels.

Egalitarianism
For the bonobo, equality seems to be the way to the good life. When meeting strangers, the bonobo typically engages in the pleasures of the flesh by sharing food and sex.

Friends, Enemies And Grudges
Female chimpanzees tend to have a circle of friends, as well as enemies against whom they hold lifelong grudges resulting in aggressive conflicts within groups.

Female Leadership
The strategic focus on safety, harmony and fairness on part of the female bonobo leaders, allows for greater intellectual advancement of the species within the evolutionary context.

Leadership And Rank
Adult female bonobos with offspring rank highest among the entire group, followed by sons of the highest ranking females whose responsibility is to lead the males when they are on their own. Most often however, the smaller daytime groups consist of an adult female leader and followers of both genders.

Social Climbers
Before becoming a dominant female bonobo, a young female newcomer has to establish relationships with the adult females within the new group and produce offspring with one of the sons.

Trade
Both, bonobos and chimpanzees, practice the bartering of meat for sex, cooperation and grooming. The bonobo females trade sex for meat with males.

The Female Protector, Toolmaker, Teacher
Adult female bonobos supervise the search for food and behavior during feeding. They make tools and teach the rest of the group how to use them. They demonstrate aggressive behavior when protecting offspring, younger females and males of the group.
Chimpanzees make and use simple stone tools and spears. Like human females, young female chimpanzees possess a greater learning ability than young males, becoming highly efficient in hunting and gathering very early on, thanks to their mothers.
Tools used are various leaves, sticks and stones, as well as their extensive physical density and strength, specifically teeth and hands.

Hunting Game And Begging
Chimpanzees practice cooperation which is rewarded when hunting, with some groups designed to hunt and other groups designed to gather. Typically alpha males try to keep as much meat as possible for themselves but they do share it with their mothers, siblings, high ranking females and females with sexual swellings, as well as the most enthusiastic beggars. Female chimpanzees have a tendency to fight over food much more than males, showing no compassion for beggars.
Usually the amount of game caught does not justify the time and effort invested in hunting, with sharing of meat being more common than that of plant food.

Communication And Planning
Both, bonobos and chimpanzees, plan and communicate, coordinating their moves while searching for food in small groups during the day and meeting again at night. They use facial expressions and gestures, various specific calls, grooming, pats, and yawns.
There are alarm calls warning the group of upcoming or present danger, different sounds used to classify the quality of food found, and very importantly, calls emitted to let the others know that food has been found and that the finder wishes others to join in.
Additionally, there are calls for different types of emotional states and intents, as part of courtship or competition.
On many occasions, chimpanzees use leaves which they extensively groom, thereby communicating the willingness to groom superiors.
Bonobos use branches and large leaves as trail markers on their food gathering trips to let the ones who follow know the path and whether an area has been covered.
Generally the communication complexity increases with age and group size, indicating that learned information is being stored and used for social advancement.

Bonding
Chimpanzees bond by mutually exchanging favors in form of grooming, food, protection, guidance, attention.

Elderly And Sick Care
The elderly, sick and injured receive extra care and attention. They are fed, protected, given assistance, comforting and treated with patience, tolerance, respect and honor.

Mourning
Bonobos and chimpanzees express feelings of excitement, sadness, worry, anger, shock, confusion, sorrow and protection when faced with pain, illness, or death of their own (as well as that of humans), finalized in long silences as they mourn. Females wail, whimper, scream and mourn over very long periods of time when their offspring pass. The corpses of the deceased are guarded by superiors, groomed, their wounds carefully inspected by high rank females.
Overall, they show compassion, helpfulness, and a high level of awareness.

Medicine
In the same way home remedies were used throughout most of human evolution and history, the chimpanzees and bonobos, as well as other primates and animals, all use particular plants, fruits, berries, clay, honey, and other natural herbs and substances with antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, anti-parasitic, laxative, cleansing/detoxifying and anti-tumor properties, for the prevention and healing of illness or injury.
Our primate relatives also clean their teeth, use toothpicks and pull out rotten teeth.

Intoxication
Chimpanzees are known for consuming naturally fermented ‘over-ripe’ fruit, becoming drunk as a consequence. They also get high on psychoactive plants, fruits and berries, some of which are hallucinogens and cannabinoids.

Entertainment
Play-acting, deception, fantasy life, role playing, and various games usually played by human children are highly common among chimpanzees. Instead of telling jokes they practice pretend play that ends in laughter. They also wrestle and tickle each other.
Young chimpanzees play with sticks and stones the way a human child would play with dolls and toys.
They possess an undoubtedly creative imagination.

Celebration Of Nature
There is the rain dance with aggression displays and swaying, as if reacting to a greater power. Or they might simply like or dislike rain based on personality.
At the sight of waterfalls, streams and sunsets, chimpanzees fall into reflective mode, gazing, playing, laughing and relaxing, while letting out melodious calls (which may have evolved into song by Homo).

Pets
Bonobos favorite animals are deer, turtles (which they feed) and snakes. Chimpanzees capture and play with hyraxes (who enjoy the much needed warmth), carrying, grooming and sleeping with them.

The Snake Ritual
For chimpanzees and bonobos the snake is not just one of their favorite animals, but seemingly the one they worship. When encountering snakes, the python in particular, they let out a specific call for others to join, followed by shared embraces with plenty of eye contact, pointing out to the possibility of ritual origin stretching all the way to modern humans.