Psychologists from Durham University, UK, have observed the behavior of 90 sanctuary-living apes to establish whether bonobos were more likely than chimpanzees to comfort others in distress. The study ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. In humans, sexual behavior has a bigger purpose than just reproduction. It plays a role in social functions, from strengthening ...

We don't just have sex to reproduce—new research suggests that using sex to manage social tension could be a trait that existed in the common ancestor of humans and apes six million years ago. Humans ...

People are constantly looking at the behavior of others and coming up with ideas about what might be going on in their heads. Now, a new study of bonobos adds to evidence that they might do the same ...

A lot of human society requires what’s called a “theory of mind”—the ability to infer the mental state of another person and adjust our actions based on what we expect they know and are thinking. We ...

For decades, scientists believed that bonobos, one of our closest living relatives, were among the most peaceful primates. Nature seemed to reassure us that, within the world of primates, aggressive ...

Chimpanzees and bonobos are often thought to reflect two different sides of human nature—the conflict-ready chimpanzee versus the peaceful bonobo—but a new study publishing April 12 in the journal ...

A young bonobo, a species capable of altruism. Source: Photo Courtesy of Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary Humans are complicated. Sometimes we hurt each other and sometimes we help each other. In the ongoing ...

The great apes are the closest living relatives to humans. We share over ninety-eight percent of our DNA with some species of these creatures, and it’s valuable to think of ourselves as being more ...