Chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape of the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa and, with the bonobo, one of the closest living relatives of humans. It is listed as Endangered.
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape of the forests and savannas of equatorial Africa and, with the bonobo, one of the closest living relatives of humans. It is listed as Endangered.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Chimpanzee in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Mammals lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
How Close Are We? Genes and Chromosomes
Human and chimpanzee DNA sequences are about 98 to 99 percent identical in the regions that can be directly aligned. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes and chimpanzees 24, because human chromosome 2 formed by fusion of two ancestral ape chromosomes. The lineages split about 6 to 7 million years ago. See Genetics.
Tools and Culture
In 1960 Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees stripping twigs and fishing termites from mounds, changing the idea that only humans make tools. Different communities have distinct traditions of tool use, which are considered a form of culture.
Threats
Habitat loss, hunting for bushmeat, disease and the pet trade have caused major declines. Chimpanzees live in communities with male kin at the core and show cooperation as well as aggression between groups.
Chimpanzee at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Pan troglodytes |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Primates |
| Family | Hominidae |
| Field Guide group | Mammals: Eutheria (Placentals) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Our closest living relative; critical for studying hominid tool use, culture, and evolutionary psychology. |
| IUCN Red List status | Endangered (EN), assessed 2016 |
| Chromosome pairs | 24 |