All chimpanzees build sleeping nests in trees at night (Rowe 1996). Chimpanzees are both terrestrial and arboreal, with the amount of time spent on the ground varying between study sites and between sexes (Doran 1996).

Locomotion patterns include quadrupedal knuckle walking and occasional bipedalism. They have prominent ears and both males and females have white beards. Pan troglodytesĬhimpanzees are all black but are born with pale faces and a white tail tuft, both of which darken with age.

Males and females have an average height of 816 mm (2.68 ft) (Rowe 1996). They have a more robust build than bonobos ( Pan paniscus) and are slightly sexually dimorphic with males, on average, weighing 40 to 60 kg (88.2 to 132 lb) and females, on average, weighing 32 to 47 kg (70.5 to 104 lb) (Rowe 1996). MORPHOLOGYĬhimpanzees exhibit very little morphological differences between subspecies. For example, by categorizing chimpanzees as Homo, it might be considered unethical to keep them in zoos or use them in research. The implications of changing the taxonomical categorization could have enormous impacts on how chimpanzees are perceived and the rights extended to them. Some argue that chimpanzees should be categorized in the same genus as humans, Homo, based on the fact that chimpanzees and humans diverged only 4 to 6 million years ago (Groves 2001).

Jane goodall chimpanzee spear