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includes a section entitled, “Who’s the Boss?” In that section, primatologist Barbara Fruth declares, “Adult females (bonobo) are dominant in every possible way.

According to a popular authority, bonobo are a “female-centered, egalitarian primate species that substitutes sex for aggression.” De Waal & Lanting (1997) p. That’s an unusually nearly equal sex ratio. 135, Table 1, shows the adult sex ratio (males/females) for bonobo at Wamba is 0.75. See chimpanzee and bonobo sex ratio data table. That fundamental gender inequality has been largely ignored in discussions of gender and development. However, among persons ages 15 to 59 across the world, median mortality probability is 64% higher for men than for women. The absolute level of mortality is much lower among humans than among chimpanzees. 135, Table 1, gives the adult sex ratio (males/females) for chimpanzees at Mahale and Gombe as 0.27 and 0.51, respectively. Among such males, 40-50% of them would have died from the conspecific attacks if they had not received veterinary intervention. Wild chimpanzees frequently injure severely re-introduced captive male chimpanzees. Formerly captive females have been successfully accepted into wild groups, but males have not. Captive chimpanzees re-introduced into the wild suffer less harm if they are female. The corresponding numbers for intragroup killings were 9 male victims and 2 female victims. Across 18 chimpanzee communities studied for decades, intergroup killings (observed and inferred) of weaned (adult) victims comprised 23 male victims and 6 female victims.

Adult female bonobo are sexually receptive (in estrus) for a much large share of their normal adult lifespan than are adult female chimpanzee. Maternal support for adult sons seems to be a central element of the relatively egalitarian sex opportunities for adult male bonobo and relatively peaceful bonobo society.īonobo adult females being relatively receptive to sex with males also contributes to peaceful society. In addition to social status, the presence of mothers also helps their adult sons to get copulation opportunities. A primatologist reported observations among wild bonobo: Mothers will even aggressively fight for their adult sons. An adult male with a mother tends to be dominant over an adult male without a mother. However, if the mother of an adult male bonobo is in the party, he is more likely to be in the center. In a mixed-sex bonobo party, females tend to be in the center. Study of bonobo suggests that adult females are key to promoting a peaceful, egalitarian society.īonobo mothers strongly support their sons in social life. Bonobo groups have closer to equal adult sex ratios with 50% more adult females than adult males. Bonobo, in contrast, hardly ever engage in violent killings. The overall effect of sex-biased violence, mortality, and social expulsion in chimpanzees produces chimpanzee social groups that have 90% more adult females than adult males. That’s about the same sex ratio for violent deaths among adult chimpanzees. In the U.S., about four times as many men die from violence as do women. A view across primates provides insights into making a peaceful, egalitarian society.