Rubin, child BonoboFormal near his mother went up to Congo rain forest When the adult Bonobo called the olive, pulled out a little food from the tiny hands of Rubin. Then the olive hit the child, firmly, in the face and neck – right in front of his mother.
The primatologist of Rachn Reddy from the University of Utah, who watched the group from about 30 feet, expected her mother would put out the law. “I just said,“ Choking! Someone is going to be beaten, ”she says. But in the shock of Reddie Rose did not raise her finger, even when the baby Rubin shouted.
In a recent study by Reddi and her colleagues documented some amazing differences in the philosophy of the education of the two closest cousins of humanity: Bonobos and chimpanzeesThe field while Bonobo’s mother very rarely intervened that someone “meant” for their children, the chimpanzee behaved more as “helicopter mothers”, intervening for almost half the time. This contradicted the expectations of primatologists in these two forms and shows that “what does it mean to be a supporting parent, varies throughout the animal kingdom,” says Reddy. The study was published in February in Animal behaviorField
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Bonobo and chimpanzees have completely different reputations. Bonobo is often considered “more pleasant of our cousins,” while the chimpanzee receives poor rap, explains Elizabeth Lonsdorf, a primatologist from the University of Emory, which did not participate in a new article. In the Chimpanzee society, dominant men use mortal power to protect their lawn, and detublines and sexual coercion from women are found. The Bonobo society is matriarchal, and women have a long impact on their offspring. This is especially applied to the sons who inherit their title from their mother and, perhaps, will need her help as a “wing” to successfully mate.
Honestly, Reddy says that she expected the dominant Bonobo woman would be “supermams”. But after she watched Rubin’s olive blow with impunity, Reddi decided to see if she came across the difference at the level of species in education styles.
For several field seasons, Reddy and her team followed the chimpanze in the Kibala National Park in Uganda and Bonobo in the Kokolopori Bonobo reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Researchers documented what happened every time the other member of this species was “vile” for young people in the presence of their mother – say, biting them, pushing them out of wood or stealing the choice of food. Surprisingly, Bonobo mothers chose a more continuous approach; They participated only in 8 percent of conflicts, where their child was a “victim”. The mother of chimpanzees intervened almost half of the time.
Given the reputation of the species, it is tempting to assume that the mothers of the chimpanzees come into force because their offspring is in genuine danger – and Bonobo mothers are leaning back because they know that their children will not become serious harm in their milder society. But, according to Reddi, bonobo and youth of chimpanzees are faced with conflicts with a similar risk of real harm. Indeed, Reddi saw how young Bonobo suffered or missed food while their mother was looking.
So why is a Bonobo woman restrained? At first, Reddi and her team thought that this could be maintained politically important relations with other dominant women. But Bonobo’s mothers were equally interfering, even when the aggressor was an orphaned man-one of the lowest members of the Bonobo social group.
Reddi was also surprised to find the difference in how propaganda reacted when young people were in trouble. Chimpanzees, who were not the mother of the victim, intervened at 21 percent of conflicts. Bonobo's benefits stepped in 7 percent of time. Researchers say that this may indicate a deeper psychological difference between bonobo and chimpanzees, which goes far beyond the education of children.
Although additional studies are needed to determine whether these models are preserved in other populations of these primates, one of the possible explanations is that the constant threat of violence in the life of chimpanzees can reproduce chimpanzees to protect other members of their social group, regardless of the situation. Reddi explains that intra-group bonds are the “really main part of the Society of Chimpanzees. Chimpanzee “can take risks to protect each other in meetings [with a hostile group]Reddy says that he jumps to cover someone, who is attacked by his own body.
Lonsdorf says a new study is an impressive work with exciting results. “This contradicts our initial intestinal response as primatologists and the popular perception of these guys,” she says. In this case, the famous chimpanzees reactivity actually “means that they intervene more.”
And it is important that mothers of chimpanzees do not always begin a counterattack when they enter into defense of their offspring, says Reddi; The situation can provoke aggression, but it “can also mean that it is necessary to cover the aggressor.”
“A society that has these higher levels of aggressiveness can be more protective, and can be more friendly [and] It may be more sensitive at certain levels, ”says the co-author of the study by Martin Surbek from Harvard University, who studies the social behavior of primates.
At the same time, experts agree that it is important not “embarrassing,” bonobo, imposing our ideas oriented on how the supporting parent looks. “This is wrong [bonobos] Bad mothers, ”says Surbek. Conflict intervention can “not so much aspect of their motherhood as in chimpanzee.”
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