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#bonobos

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#Kanzi #bonobos #personhood

"Kanzi has died at the age of 44. The iconic bonobo reshaped our understanding of ape intelligence, challenging long-held beliefs about what separates humans from our closest living relatives.

(. . .)

Koko the gorilla and Washoe the chimp communicated via sign language, but Kanzi took communication to a new level, demonstrating a profound capacity to communicate via symbols and comprehend verbal English.

(. . .)

Famously, Kanzi was also a gamer. I first learned of Kanzi in 2006 when I spotted a bootlegged NHK Youtube video showing a bonobo playing Pac-Man with both proficiency and delight. I corresponded with Savage-Rumbaugh about the video, and she told me: 'This film is so compelling and there is so much of it (over 300 hours) in so many different natural circumstances, that any thought that these clips represent anything other than their real competencies, become unreasonable.'"

gizmodo.com/rip-kanzi-the-bono

Gizmodo · RIP Kanzi, the Bonobo Who Mastered Language and MinecraftThe famous ape reportedly knew thousands of words, loved Clint Eastwood movies, and was a big fan of video games. 

#Bonobos recognize when humans are ignorant, try to help
Study provides evidence that our relatives have a "theory of mind."
A study found that bonobos can recognize when someone lacks knowledge they possess and take action to help, demonstrating a basic form of theory of mind. This suggests the ability to understand others' perspectives is evolutionarily older than previously thought and may have existed in our common ancestors to enhance cooperation and coordination.
arstechnica.com/science/2025/0

Ars Technica · Bonobos recognize when humans are ignorant, try to helpBy John Timmer

Very interesting preliminary data on late #weaning age for #bonobos -- 1-2 years later than chimps!

This strongly suggests bonobos have no forms of allocare. The mum puts all the effort in herself even nursing more than one offspring concurrently. Despite complex female alliances, they don't trust each other enough to help take care if an offspring. No grandmothers!

We went down a different road.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10