We’re not going to argue as to whether humans came from monkeys, but there are eyes, but some apes do look a lot like humans. Chimpanzees, one of these species, are perhaps the most human-like ape species. When we examine chimpanzees, both their biological and social structures, which we encounter, have truly astonishing humanoid features.
Some of the chimpanzees, which have a very long lifespan, can be even older than us. These creatures, which establish family and similar social relations among themselves, use simple sign languages and can even move on two legs when necessary. So yes, the movie Planet of the Apes isn’t all that fiction. Let’s take a closer look at interesting features about chimpanzees.
Information about chimpanzees:
- The chimpanzee chromosome number and DNA structure are nearly identical to ours.
- You can’t see chimpanzees like that anywhere.
- Chimpanzees can eat anything.
- They can form a happy family and even a tribe.
- Although the chimpanzee pregnancy is not very long, it does not give birth continuously.
- Some chimpanzees can outlive humans.
- Don’t be surprised if you see a chimpanzee walking past you just like you.
- If you can decipher sign language, you can chat with chimpanzees.
- We have some common diseases with chimpanzees.
- At this rate, we will only see chimpanzees in old documentaries.
The chimpanzee chromosome number and DNA structure are nearly identical to ours:
Chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, the animals closest to us, have 24 pairs, or 48 chromosomes. In humans, this number is 23 pairs, or 46. Our chromosome number is not the only similarity with chimpanzees. According to studies, the DNA structure of chimpanzees is almost 98 percent similar to the DNA structure of humans. According to its DNA structure, the chimpanzee is closer to humans than to gorillas or bonobos. According to some experts, that means we had a common ancestor a few million years ago. Of course, it’s a debatable topic.
You can’t see chimpanzees anywhere like this:
Of course, you can see many chimpanzees kept in zoos in different parts of the world, unfortunately, against their nature, but real wild chimpanzees only live in the Central African region of the African continent. Chimpanzees, who still live in 21 different countries on the west coast of Africa, choose this region because they can easily reach all their needs, especially water and food, in this region.
Chimpanzees can eat anything:
When we examine the natural life of wild chimpanzees, we see that a large part of their feeding program consists of fruits. However, they are omnivores, meaning they also eat meat. It’s a somewhat chilling sight, but some groups of chimpanzees have been seen hunting and eating monkeys. Of course, they meet their carnivorous nutritional needs by mostly eating termites. If we do not count the monkey meat and termites, the taste preferences in fruit and vegetable selection are very close to ours.
They can create a happy family and even a tribe:
We weren’t kidding when we said that chimpanzees’ social structure is similar to ours. A chimpanzee can indeed start a family. In fact, these family groups can grow into large tribes of 120 people. Of course, after all, there is only one alpha male who rules an entire tribe because they are animals, but we can say that he is the animal most similar to us in terms of social structure, except for such small details.
Although the chimpanzee pregnancy is not very long, it does not give birth continuously:
The average gestation period for a female chimpanzee is 243 days. The gestation period of a human female is 280 days. In other words, they are similar to us in terms of gestational age. Interestingly, although they have a relatively short gestation period for most animals, chimpanzees give birth about once every five years, and usually only one cub is born at a time. She does not give birth very often, as the mother takes very close care of the cub for a period of three to five years. So yes, it’s similar to us in that respect too.
Some chimpanzees can outlive humans:
Thanks to modern medicine, we now have an average lifespan of 80 years as humans. However, stress, bad habits, sedentary life, and the number of premature deaths increased considerably. You wouldn’t believe it, chimpanzees are similar to us in this respect. The oldest recorded chimpanzee is a female who was estimated to have died in 2017 at the age of 82. Of course, we know the age of this creature because it lives in a cage. The average lifespan of chimpanzees is 33 years, according to data from Kibale National Park in Uganda. If we lived in the forest, we wouldn’t be able to see 40 easily either.
Don’t be surprised if you see a chimpanzee walking by like you:
Don’t be surprised if a chimpanzee passes by, be afraid and run away, after all, it’s a wild animal, but you shouldn’t be surprised to see a chimpanzee walking on two legs just like a human. Compared to gorillas, chimpanzees are more quadrupedal creatures because they often have to climb trees and swing in the forest. However, when necessary, they can walk on two legs, just like humans, even if not for very long.
If you can decipher sign language, you can chat with chimpanzees:
We more or less understood that we descended from a common ancestor with chimpanzees. We don’t understand this just by looking at our biological makeup, our body languages are also very similar. A team of experts took a long look at a group of chimpanzees in the Ugandan forests and found that they made more than 2,000 different gestures, gestures, and movements to communicate with each other. Experts, who interpreted short movements as syllables and long movements as words, discovered that they described simple actions more or less similarly to us, even if not enough to chat.
We have some common diseases with chimpanzees:
It was seen that 56 chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park in Uganda had respiratory diseases and five died because of it. An autopsy revealed that the cause of this disease was rhinovirus C. The same virus causes the common cold in humans. Due to this similarity, special precautions were taken to protect chimpanzees from the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic period.
We share another disease with chimpanzees, Alzheimer’s. Examining the brains of 20 chimpanzees who died between the ages of 37 and 62, nearly identical plaques were found in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. All of them had what’s called premixing in their brains. A chimpanzee exhibiting strange behavior due to severe Alzheimer’s symptoms has not been recorded yet, but if there is a protein that causes the plaque structure in question, there is more to it.
At this rate, we will only see chimpanzees in old documentaries:
International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, IUCN for short, in Turkish, World Union for Conservation of Nature; declared chimpanzees as one of the endangered species in recent years. Of course it’s because of us. The natural habitats of chimpanzees are systematically destroyed for reasons such as oil extraction and highway construction. Despite being illegal, chimpanzees are hunted by poachers.
We talked about the extraordinary information, some of which you have heard for the first time, about chimpanzees, one of the most human-like animals. We managed to extinct even the animal that jumped from tree to tree in its own right, what can we say.
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