![]() ![]() ©Thomas Lersch / Creative Commons Distribution and HabitatĬhimpanzees are found throughout 21 different countries in western and central Africa where they are known to inhabit a variety of different regions from the tropical, humid rainforests to the dryer and more arid regions of the savanna and open woodlands. The chimpanzee’s features include long arms, opposable thumbs, a prominent mouth, and a body covered in brown or black hair. Chimpanzees have 32 teeth which are very similar to those of Humans to help them not just grind up plant matter but their longer canines also help to bite into flesh. They have long fingers and an opposable big toe that helps them to grip things, with their arms also being longer than their legs which enables them to move around on all fours which are known as knuckle-walking. Like other great apes, Chimpanzees are animals that have good sight and can see in color, while their forward-facing eyes allow them to focus on a single object. They have large ears that give them excellent hearing and a heavy brow ridge over their eyes. The hairless parts of their bodies are light to dark brown depending on the age of the individual (their skin darkens as they mature). ![]() Their hair not only allows them to remain warm in areas at higher altitudes but also provides their skin with some protection from the sun. ©Sergey Uryadnikov/ Anatomy and AppearanceĬhimpanzees are large primates that have long yet sparse black hairs covering their bodies except for their face, palms, and the soles of their feet. The Bonobo (Pan paniscus) is not actually a species of Chimpanzee, rather, under the same genus as the Chimpanzee– Pan. troglodytes marungensis, is not recognized as a subspecies by the ICUN, but it inhabits Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. ellioti) – Found in Nigeria and Cameroon, this is the rarest subspecies of chimpanzee with only 6,500 remaining. schweinfurthii) – Found mostly from the Ubangi River/Congo River in Central African Republic and DRC, to western Uganda, Rwanda and western Tanzania. ![]() troglodytes) – Found mostly in Côte D’Ivoire, with smaller populations in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, and Liberia. The most widespread subspecies with population around 115,000. verus) – Found mostly in Gabon, Cameroon, and Congo. These inhabited more areas in the past but have shrunk to smaller populations. There are four subspecies of the common chimpanzee, and a fifth which is a proposed subspecies. Chimpanzees and humans diverged from gorillas 7 million years ago. Around six million years ago, researchers believe that the chimpanzee split from the human line, of which only Homo sapiens survived, making chimpanzees the closest relatives of humans. The bonobo species separated from the chimpanzee less than 1 million years ago. Pan fossils have been found in Kenya dating to the Middle Pleistocene, indicating that both chimpanzees and humans inhabited the East African Rift Valley during that time, ranging from 126,000 to 770,000 years ago. See all of our entertaining and insightful animal articles.
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