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Chimpanzees and Bonobos

Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus

Chimpanzees (often colloquially “chimps”) are African great apes in the genus Pan, which has two living species: the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo (Pan paniscus). The common chimpanzee ranges widely across equatorial Africa—from Senegal in the west to parts of east-central Africa—while bonobos are restricted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largely south of the Congo River. The Congo River system is a major geographic barrier between their native ranges.

As members of the great-ape family Hominidae (alongside humans, gorillas, and orangutans), chimpanzees and bonobos are humans’ closest living biological relatives. DNA evidence summarized by the Smithsonian indicates that the human and chimpanzee lineages diverged from a common ancestor between about 8 and 6 million years ago.

Chimpanzees (often colloquially “chimps”) are African great apes in the genus Pan, which has two living species: the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo (Pan paniscus). The common chimpanzee ranges widely across equatorial Africa—from Senegal in the west to parts of east-central Africa—while bonobos are restricted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largely south of the Congo River. The Congo River system is a major geographic barrier between their native ranges.

As members of the great-ape family Hominidae (alongside humans, gorillas, and orangutans), chimpanzees and bonobos are humans’ closest living biological relatives. DNA evidence summarized by the Smithsonian indicates that the human and chimpanzee lineages diverged from a common ancestor between about 8 and 6 million years ago.