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University of California Press

Bonobo

The Forgotten Ape

by Frans B. M. de Waal (Author), Frans Lanting (Author), Frans Lanting (Photographer)
Price: $39.95 / £34.00
Publication Date: Nov 2023
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 200
ISBN: 9780520351288
Trim Size: 8.5 x 10
Illustrations: 100

About the Book

This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the "make-love-not-war" primate by specialists. In bonobo society, females form alliances to intimidate males, sexual behavior (in virtually every partner combination) replaces aggression and serves many social functions, and unrelated groups mingle instead of fighting. The species's most striking achievement is not tool use or warfare but sensitivity to others.

In the first book to combine and compare data from captivity and the field, Frans de Waal, a world-renowned primatologist, and Frans Lanting, an internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, present the most up-to-date perspective available on the bonobo. Focusing on social organization, de Waal compares the bonobo with its better-known relative, the chimpanzee. The bonobo's relatively nonviolent behavior and the tendency for females to dominate males confront the evolutionary models derived from observing the chimpanzee's male power politics, cooperative hunting, and intergroup warfare. Further, the bonobo's frequent, imaginative sexual contacts, along with its low reproduction rate, belie any notion that the sole natural purpose of sex is procreation. Humans share over 98 percent of their genetic material with the bonobo and the chimpanzee. Is it possible that the peaceable bonobo has retained traits of our common ancestor that we find hard to recognize in ourselves?

Eight superb full-color photo essays offer a rare view of the bonobo in its native habitat in the rain forests of Zaire as well as in zoos and research facilities. Additional photographs and highlighted interviews with leading bonobo experts complement the text. This book points the way to viable alternatives to male-based models of human evolution and will add considerably to debates on the origin of our species. Anyone interested in primates, gender issues, evolutionary psychology, and exceptional wildlife photography will find a fascinating companion in Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape.


This remarkable primate with the curious name is challenging established views on human evolution. The bonobo, least known of the great apes, is a female-centered, egalitarian species that has been dubbed the "make-love-not-war" primate by specialists. In

About the Author

Frans de Waal is C. H. Candler Professor of Psychology, Emory University, and Director of Living Links, Yerkes Primate Center. He is the author of several books, including Chimpanzee Politics (1982) and Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals(1996). Frans Lanting is one of the world's leading nature photographers and the recipient of many prestigious awards. His work appears regularly in National Geographic, Life, and other magazines. His books include Okavango: Africa's Last Eden (1993), Madagascar: A World out of Time (1990), and Forgotten Edens (1993).

Reviews

"The bonobos are best known as the sexy chimpanzees. Their most striking idiosyncrasy is their readiness to use sex as a social lubricant. Any tension within a bonobo group is normally resolved by a quick orgy, in which they all have sex with one another, in all positions and combinations. Yet, as Frans de Waal explains in the elegant photo-essay Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, this is just one way in which they diverge markedly from the other chimpanzees."
New York Times
"A fascinating, delightfully successful treatment of an arresting creature."
Kirkus Reviews
"In many respects the book deserves recommendation. Frans de Waal, well-known from previous books on chimpanzee, human, and other mammalian societies, ensures a sound and carefully referenced scientific background, and Frans Lanting, known to the readers of National Geographic and Life, has produced  remarkable photographs."
Current Anthropology
"Exciting, amusing, and beautiful."
International Journal of Primatology
"This wonderful book by a preeminent primatologist does much to introduce the general reader to one of our closest relatives. Covering studies undertaken both in captivity and in the species' natural habitat in Zaire, de Waal's riveting account compares bonobo behavior with that of the better-known chimpanzee and with humans. Complemented by Frans Lanting's coffee-table-quality photographs of wild and captive bonobos, the chapters cover the discovery of the bonobo (in 1929), its habitat and how it shaped the species' behavior, and the fears for the future of wild bonobos in an unstable region." 
Booklist
"This impressive coffee-table catalogue of bonobo life is worth the purchase price for Frans Lanting's remarkable photos alone. However, for the interested lay reader and the experienced primatologist alike, the text by Frans de Waal is almost as compelling as the pictures." 
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
"Bonobo is a book that is enjoyable for both the eye and the mind. Simply leafing through the book to admire the breathtaking photography and the evocative visages may be all it takes to convince a reader to buy this book. Those looking for more than a collection of lovely images may still find this book hard to resist, depending on what type and level of information they are seeking. . . . It is an extremely readable presentation of the current state of research and theory regarding the behavior and psychology of the bonobo (Pan paniscus)—a species that not only bears an impressive resemblance to humans but is uniquely captivating in its own right."
BioScience
"This book by de Waal and Lanting should dispel the notion that the bonobo has been forgotten by primatologists. It will have great appeal to a wide readership, including those interested in apes and human evolution, natural history, and behavioral ecology. Students in comparative psychology courses, primatology, and physical anthropology will want to hang on to this attractive book after the final exam."
American Anthropologist
""Introduce[s] the popular audience to this long-lost cousin of humanity. And what a fine introduction it is! De Waal . . . writes in a conversational style that shows respect for the animals as well as real affection. . . . Lanting's photographs, many from the field, highlight some of de Waal's major points: bonobos not only look like people, they often act like people and form humanlike relationships. . . . Bonobo is a delightful romp in the world of another species and a pleasant consciousness-raising session about our closest evolutionary relatives."
Sciences
"Here at last is a book that will give the fourth great ape the visibility that this wonderful species deserves. You will learn that bonobos are not just 'little' chimpanzees, but are every bit as different from chimpanzees as chimpanzees are from gorillas. If you care about the great apes, this book, with its superb photographs and vivid text, is a must."—Jane Goodall

"Bonobo provides a tantalizing introduction into the natural history of one of our closest living relatives and uniquely enhances our understanding of our own place in Nature. Anyone who has the pleasure of reading this book will come away with deeper insights into why we humans behave the way we do. We should not be afraid of acknowledging the Bonobo in all of us."—Don Johanson, Director, Institute of Human Origins

"With this book, de Waal and Lanting ask us to give bonobos their due—to be considered along side the better known common chimpanzee as close human cousins. How nice to have the peaceable, sexy, bonobo added to the path of human evolution! Bonobos represent the silver lining in our ape heritage."—Meredith Small, author of What's Love Got to Do With It? The Evolution of Human Mating

"As a chronicler of natural history today, Frans Lanting is a singular, extraordinary talent. He has the mind of a scientist, the heart of a hunter, and the eyes of a poet. He is as persistent, adaptable, and hard as the wild creatures he observes. His bonobo photographs bring us face-to-face with a group of highly endangered apes. Eerily, aspects of their behavior mirror our own."—Thomas R. Kennedy, Director of Photography, National Geographic Society