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I have planned to make this blog a place to share some interesting facts about different animals. This is my first blog and it is dedicated to our closest cousins: The Chimpanzees. But before moving into the chimpanzee facts first lets understand the some basic things about the apes.
Interesting Chimpanzee Facts
The word “chimpanzee” comes from the Bantu words ‘Tshiluba Kivili-Chimpenze’ which loosely translates to “creature that looks something like a human”. Scientific name of these class of animal is Pan troglodytes . Colloquially called chimps they are the members of the family along with Gorilla, Humans and others. The chimps are the closest living relatives of humans.
Below are some of the most interesting facts about a chimpanzee:
Chimpanzees possess 24pairs of chromosomes, just one pair less than the humans(humans have 23 pairs ). Humans and chimps share 95% of the similarity in DNA. And so chimpanzees can catch and be infected with a number of human diseases.
Chimpanzees can currently be found in 21 African countries. The greatest concentration of chimpanzees is in the rain forests.
Scientific Name of Chimpanzee is Pan troglodytes
What Do Chimpanzees Eat?
They are omnivores, which means they eat both veggies as well as meat. A typical Chimpanzee diet consists of fruits, nuts, seeds, blossoms and leaves, as well as many kinds of insects and occasionally medium-sized animals such as bush babies.
Chimpanzee Height and Weight:
Chimpanzees standing height: 1.7 meters (5.6 ft) and weighs 70 kg (150 lb). They have unusually large testicles when compared with their body size. A fully matured chimp’s testicle can weight 110gm. This is generally due to their polyandrous nature and mating behavior. Chimpanzees reach puberty at an age of eight and rarely live past age 40 in the wild, but in captive condition they can live more than 60 years.
Chimpanzees have very long arms (the arms are longer than the legs), and a short body. Theyare knuckle walkers, which means they walk on all fours using their knuckles for support with their hands clenched when they are on the ground or even when they are up in trees.
Chimpanzee Habitat:
Common Chimpanzees are both arboreal and terrestrial, spending equal time in the trees and on the ground. Arboreal refers to their movement in trees which include moving on narrow branches, moving up and down inclines, balancing, crossing gaps and dealing with obstructions, swinging from one branch to another.
Chimps communicate in many ways, most notably through sounds and calls. They also communicate with each other with non-verbal body languages like touch, facial expressions and hand gestures. In captivity, chimpanzees can be taught human sign languages such as ASL (American Sign Language). Chimpanzees communicate physically in ways similar to humans—by kissing, embracing, patting on the back, touching hands, tickling, etc. And they even laugh when they play.
Chimpanzees make and use tools. In fact, they use more tools for more purposes than any other creature except human beings.
Chimpanzees have opposable thumbs and big toes. Opposable thumb means that they can touch each of their fingers with their thumb which enable them to have a precision grip on just about anything. Infant chimpanzees have a white tail tuft that disappears by early adulthood.
One of the interesting thing about chimps is that they make “nests” to sleep in but they never sleep in the same nest twice. Each day they built a new nest for sleeping. The nests are made out of leaves, branches and other materials. Sometimes they even make a pillow out of the softest leaves.
Chimps are classified by IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature) as endangered species and require protection to exist. They are threatened by poaching, hunting, loss of habitat etc. It is our duty to take some steps to save our closest cousins. Thanks for reading this article. If you want to add any other Chimpanzee Facts please use the comment box below. I will be happy to add that in this article.
They are omnivores, which means they eat both veggies as well as meat. A typical Chimpanzee diet consists of fruits, nuts, seeds, blossoms and leaves, as well as many kinds of insects and occasionally medium-sized animals such as bush babies.