Marcus Holland, age 11, of Lynn, Mass., for his question
HOW SMART IS A CHIMPANZEE?
The chimpanzee is an anthropoid ape of equatorial Africa that is a member of the family that also includes the orangutan and the gorilla. Chimpanzees show great intelligence in problem solving and in the use of simple tools, such as a stripped twig used to draw termites from their nests. Their brains are about half the size of the human brain.
Chimpanzees communicate through vocalizations, facial expressions, posture, touch and movement. A young chimp is able to make at least 32 different sounds and the facial musculature can express a wide range of emotions.
Experiments have suggested that chimps can even learn to use language in a human sense, using physical devices because they are physiologically incapable of speech, but these results are disputed.
Chimps are diurnal and omnivorous. This means that most of their activities are carried on in the daylight (opposite of nocturnal with night activities) and that they eat all kinds of food indiscriminately.
Chimpanzees eat about 200 kinds of leaves and fruit. termites, ants, honey, birds' eggs, birds and small mammals. They spend their time in or near trees, avoiding direct sunlight and building sleeping nests each night in trees.
A female chimp can have a baby any time during the year. The gestation period is more than seven months long and a single offspring is produced. Immediately after birth the helpless young clutches its mother's hair. The baby stays close to mother for five years, often riding on mamma's back when traveling.
Chimps form loosely organized bands of up to 50 individuals on fairly large home ranges, where they remain for years. Within a band smaller groups form, break up and reform with great frequency. Sometimes a female migrates to another band, but never a male.
Members of a band cooperate in hunting and sharing of food. On finding a food source, the highly voluble animals hoot, scream and slap logs to attract others.
A constant interplay occurs between adults in a group at rest. For example, each new arrival offers its hand to be sniffed and touched with the lips.
Elderly males sit apart but are treated with respectful attention, and all members of the group spend hours grooming one another.
The male chimp is up to five feet five inches high when upright and weighs as much as 176 pounds. The female is somewhat smaller.
The long arms, when extended, have a span half again as long as the body height. The feet are better suited for walking on the ground than those of orangutans. The soles are broader and the toes shorter.
The coat is dark and the face, palms and soles are bare. Ears, lips and brow ridges protrude and the chimp is tailless.