Have you met the Bonobos?

No? Well, allow me to introduce you to them....

 aww, hello!

So, bonobos are a type of Ape, but they are especially remarkable because they are the closest ape, genetically speaking, to humans. In fact we share over 98% of our genetic makeup. Also, they strongly resemble Australopithecus, the earliest species of human. In the wild, they live only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is why we know less of bonobos than other simians, e.g. chimpanzees (a close cousin of the bonobos).

Check this TED video out:

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write.html

It really makes you think.... 

Oh, and in case you were wondering (I was), this is a reconstructed image of an australopithecus afarensis: 

So this has been one of my interests lately, and I was further intrigued, when, after reading Water For Elephants (great book), I discovered that Sara Gruen had written another book, Ape House, about bonobos! It's on my to-read list...

(images courtesy of Google and Wikipedia. Documentary from TED).