WEIRD FACTS ABOUT
CHIMPANZEE
The official name of the Common Chimpanzee is Pan Troglodytes.
Troglodyte means 'cave-dweller'.
The word chimpanzee derives from a Congolese Tshiluba language term 'kivili-chimpenze', which translates as 'mock-man'.
Chimpanzees, despite their hairy appearance, have no more hair follicles than humans.
Like humans, chimps go grey as they age. But unlike humans, both male and female chimps go bald.
The DNA of a Bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, is 98% the same as that of a human.
In 2005, Ai Ai, a 27-year-old Chinese chimp, gave up smoking.
She had taken to cigarettes after her mate died 16 years earlier.
According to a study in Arizona in 2004, chimps prefer composing their own music to listening to pre-recorded tracks.
In 1999, New Scientist magazine identified chimps in Madrid Zoo as the first non-humans seen to mash food simply because they prefer the taste and texture.
In November 2006, research established that male chimpanzees prefer older women. Female chimps remain fertile and do not experience a menopause.
One of Bill Clinton's last acts as US President was to sign into law an act giving laboratory chimpanzees the right to a peaceful retirement.
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