About Chimpanzee Monkeys

The life cycle of chimpanzees takes them through infancy, adolescence and adulthood, very much like humans. In captivity, they live over 60 years. In the wild, chimpanzees typically live around 40 to 45 years. They can walk upright on two feet, but they normally knuckle-walk, using their feet and hands. Chimpanzees swing from branches foraging for food, and they generally live in African rain forests, grassland and woodlands.

  1. Anatomy

    • Chimpanzee males are 3 to 4 feet high, and they weigh 90 to 115 pounds. Chimpanzee females are 2 to 3.5 feet high, and they weigh 57 to 110 pounds. Both males and females have short, white beards, and the remainder of their faces are hairless.

      Chimpanzees have short torsos, and their arms are much longer than their legs. Most of their bodies are covered with black hair, except armpits, palms, fingers and the bottoms of the feet. Their hands and feet are much like ours, including thumbs and big toes. They also have the same five senses that we do: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing.

    Behavior

    • Chimpanzees live in groups, and it’s not unusual for small numbers of chimpanzees to break away from the main group for foraging and rejoin the group at a later time. Males dominate females, and all groups have one dominate male leader--also known as the alpha male--that is the leader of the entire group.

      Chimpanzees exhibit many different behaviors when interacting with others. Aggressive behavior is displayed with biting, hitting and chasing. Dominance can be shown by swaying. Submissive behaviors are shown by avoidance, screaming and fearful grins. Grooming and playing are often interpreted as a form of affection.

    Communication

    • Chimpanzees can communicate through vocalizations and facial expressions. A food-grunt sound is made when feeding, showing a preference or dislike for the type of food. The pant-hoot sound is usually indicating excitement. Screams are used when they are scared or angry.

      Pouting is conveyed with open eyes and the lips are puckered, usually used for begging for food. Fear is shown with a slightly open mouth, withdrawn lips and fully exposed teeth. A playful expression is shown when the mouth is partially opened in a relaxed position.

    Intelligence

    • Chimpanzees reflect their intelligence in a variety of ways. Jane Goodall, an esteemed researcher, first discovered that chimpanzees make use of tools to fish for termites and crack nuts. Chimpanzees use sticks or grass to reach inside termite mounds, which they feed upon. Nuts are cracked by using a hard surface and an object that works as a hammer to strike the nut. A study conducted by Sana Inoue and Tetsuro Matsuzawa indicates that chimpanzees had faster memory recall than humans.

    Feeding and Nest Building

    • Chimpanzees spend their days foraging for food in the forests. They seek fruits, leaves, tree bark, seeds and plant bulbs. They also eat flowers, tender plant shoots, ants, termites and small animals, which may include young monkeys. Water is sopped up using leaves.

      Each evening, chimpanzees will build a nest for a place to sleep. Nests are built according to each chimpanzee's ingenuity and what variety of materials are available for use.