A question about Bonobos

Since this is my first post I thought I'd begin with something a little less incendiary than usual but it is an interesting topic.What are the most recent estimates of how related we are to Bonobos (pygmy chimps)?

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Originally posted by digby:
Since this is my first post I thought I'd begin with something a little less incendiary than usual but it is an interesting topic.

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What are the most recent estimates of how related we are to Bonobos (pygmy chimps)?

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A little less incendiary? Who are you kidding?! How can you dare defile my bandwidth with the suggestion that we are in any way related to those revolting malodorous apes? Are you suggesting that an ancestor of mine in some way committed a disgusting act of bestiality with some "thing" that was less than a fully perfected human being? I am appalled.But do check out these references, ... http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/chordata/mammalia/primates/hominidae.html a concise taxonomic account of the hominidae. http://www.jqjacobs.net/anthro/paleo/primates.html an anthropological account of some behaviours, similar in bonobos and humans.Possibly you were looking for the percentage of shared DNA? Here is a snippet from the web: [i][b]Humans differ from both common chimps and bonobos in about 1.6% of DNA, and share 98.4%. Gorillas differ somewhat more, by about 2.3%, from us and from both of the chimps. Humans differ from orangutans by 3.6% of DNA, and from gibbons and siamangs by 5%.[/i][/b] I have no idea where the orginal figures come from, but the same figures are pretty widely quoted. I wonder if they are true?If they are, then it is compelling evidence for common ancestry for sure, but on their own the figures do not provide much to go on for other fields of argument - animal rights activists are fond of using them with a breathtaking lack of logic.I would be interested to know how these figures compare to other species - how much DNA do we have in common with a pig? or a lizard? or an octopus?And does anyone know where the figures originate? References?

I thought that Bonobos shared more DNA with us than common chimpanzees. They’re more closely related to us. What is the difference in relatedness?

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Originally posted by digby:
I thought that Bonobos shared more DNA with us than common chimpanzees. They’re more closely related to us. What is the difference in relatedness?

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According to the Columbus zoo website http://www.colszoo.org/animalareas/aforest/bonobo.html it is "a fraction of a percent."A google search comes up with figures from 96% up to 99.6% for common chimps and bonobos. But I still can't find any authoritative sources. It's probably in a paper somewhere which has been used second-, third- and fourth- hand elsewhere.

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Originally posted by Mister Pamboli:

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Originally posted by digby:
I thought that Bonobos shared more DNA with us than common chimpanzees. They’re more closely related to us. What is the difference in relatedness?

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According to the Columbus zoo website http://www.colszoo.org/animalareas/aforest/bonobo.html it is "a fraction of a percent."

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A google search comes up with figures from 96% up to 99.6% for common chimps and bonobos. But I still can't find any authoritative sources. It's probably in a paper somewhere which has been used second-, third- and fourth- hand elsewhere.

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I was just confused about how Bonobos could be more related, since it seems impossible. If they’re equally related then there’s no quandary. I must have mis-heard/read it somewhere.Thanks for all the help!

There is nothing ever incendiary about BONOBOS (perhaps that was a refernce to public TV) for one was offered to me to buy when I was studying electric fish on Lac Tumba in Zaiire in 86. At least it was claimed to not be a chimp. Looked like the one left behind in Mbandaka but only smaller. Shows how much primatology I know.

Chimps EXPLODE IN FLAMES?????------------------
Occam's razor is not for shaving with.

http://www.gate.net/~rwms/primegendist.htmlFor all intents and purposes, it seems that chimps and bonobos are equidistant from/to humans, genetically speaking.

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Originally posted by SLPx:
http://www.gate.net/~rwms/primegendist.html

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Excellent - thank you so much for this. I've been looking for just this information for a few weeks now. And I've never felt quite so close to a Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur before!

I have stopped thinking of mad car lemurs long ago on seeing how my grandfather corrected the data basing of stamps from that Hippo of a cartoon country that looks like Maine if you turn it upside down, but seriously, good for you all are onto my sirology%