This Week in the Mercury

The Creepiest Love Songs of All Time

Music

The Creepiest Love Songs of All Time

A Special Valentine's Day Playlist


I Love Television™

Columns

I Love Television™

Into the Donkey Abyss



  |  

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Luv / Homo / SEX Bonobo Chimps Like to Have Sex

Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 1:13 PM

The Bonobo chimp is a lot like a human, which this partially NSFW video demonstrates: Bonobos sometimes walk upright, and they even sometimes have sex facing each other. The BBC lady in this doc also seems to think that they're also capable of being inspired by the beauty of a majestic waterfall, which supposedly makes them humanlike, but I am skeptical. (News flash, English lady: Swinging on a rope in front of a waterfall is AWESOME and even a dead termite would have fun doing it and you don't need a fancy BBC science degree to figure that out.)

But yeah, back to the sex: Bonobo society is driven by sex, especially sex for pleasure. Bonobos even have gay sex—if not full-on intercourse, frottage and scissoring and so forth. Tonight, OMSI hosts another edition of Science Pub at the Mission Theater, and the topic is "What's Love Got to Do with It: Sex for Social Bonding in Bonobos." University of Oregon Primatologist Dr. Frances White hosts the event, and there's sure to be plenty of talk about hot monkey sex*, at least more than your typical Tuesday. According to the Mission Theater's page, there was a talk exactly one year ago to the day on this topic which sold out, so you might want to arrive early.

*sorry, ape sex

Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, doors 5 pm, program 7 pm, FREE, all ages (minor w/adult)

 

Comments (5) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
Maybe they should call it the Missionary Theater. Ahem.
Posted by a.O on August 25, 2009 at 1:46 PM · Report
2
Once saw a doc about Bonobos and Chimps. National Geographic or Nova or something. Don't remember.

Anyway, was interesting to see the differences between the two species, especially conflict resolution: where two chimps might resort to violence, the bonobos got it on.

Meaning they had sex.

With each other.


Posted by nerdliness on August 25, 2009 at 1:56 PM · Report
3
"Apes" may not even be correct. They are more genetically similar to humans than they are to the other "great apes", gorillas and orangutans.
Posted by camarorush on August 25, 2009 at 5:45 PM · Report
4
I've never met another "human" who has sex to resolve disputes. If that shit is normal please tell my wife.
Posted by scrappers on August 25, 2009 at 7:45 PM · Report
5
I think a lot of human primates resolve disputes through sexual endeavors, but not all. Many a time when a female is scornfully rebuked by her partner, sometimes she will gleefully try to seduce her mate back into his good graces by gentle kisses, or by sexual intimacy. I see no differences with the Bonobo.

While the Bonobo may be chimp-like, they certainly emulate human activity very well. The recent disclosure of the primate/sub-human Ardipithcus, certainly a bi-pedal evolutionary model, seems to gravitate towards a more Bonobo-like posture. The hip flanges of Ardi, make the bi-pedalism of his kind, an evolutionary exclamation. With the Bonobo, does these human-like qualities exist?

I wonder how the Chimpanzee and Bonobo would co-exist in a closed environment? Would the Chimp catch on? Would the Chimp start walking upright, carrying sticks? Or, would the two breeds brawl? It would be an interesting observation.
Posted by TE on October 14, 2009 at 7:32 PM · Report

Add a comment

Our Friends

Our Enemies

/images/adoftheweek.gif

ad of the day

The Handyman Pro - Your Honey-Do Specialist
Don’t let our name fool you. The Handyman Pro, LLC is a repair and remodel service provider with over 25-years experience. We cover all aspects of construction and repairs for residential and commercial clients.go


post an ad

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC

115 SW Ash St. Suite 600
Portland, OR 97204

Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Production Guidelines | Terms of Use