Bonobo Apes

            The bonobo apes are primates whose similarity to human beings is at 98%, apart from this similarity, the apes have an advanced social life compared to other primates. Their mannerisms and attitudes towards each other are more tolerable and seem to interact better with each other. Sex/mating in bonobos is part and parcel of their social lives; they mate for different reasons such as reproduction, pleasure, and as a way to interact. The bonobos have one significant difference from other primates with regards to sex; they mate throughout the year even when it is not the mating season.

Apes Basics

            Bonobo is one of the smallest species of the chimpanzee subspecies, it was discovered in 1929. Jane Goodall, a primatologist, ethologist and anthropologist has done extensive research on Bonobos which has provided valuable information on the most recent discovery of the primates. Goodwill has worked in Tanzania during the time it was a British protectorate and was and was known as Tanganyika; her work has shed light into the slight difference existing between Bonobos and human beings. From her work, there is comparison between bonobos to other primates as well as humans; there is a 98% similarity between them and human which makes them our closest cousins. Physically, bonobos are close to humans than chimpanzees but the most conspicuous aspect is their cool temperaments. Chimps are well known for their aggression and brutality which makes them dangerous to humans and other animals; however, the bonobo on the other hand are quite docile and less intimidating.

Content

Social Organization

            In chimpanzees the males dominate the females, the young ones and all other aspects of the chimps live such as feeding, migrating, mating and protection. For the bonobos, the females dominate the social lives; this is primarily because the bonobos are sexual animals that equate pleasure to sexual activity (Waal, 1995). Close observations of the bonobos show sexual activity increases harmony in the society as there is increased food sharing after coitus. There is a similarity between chimpanzees and bonobos, they live in societies that consist of males, females, and young ones; the organization is based on the need for companionship. In bonobos, these societies are dominated by the females who clearly dictate and decide the direction of the group.

            In chimps, there is a clear indication of male bonding as long as boundaries are not crossed; the boundaries are to protect the alpha male or the leader. In each family/group there is one male leader that takes charge and whose authority should not be challenged by the other males in the group (Block, 2014). In both the chimps and the bonobos child rearing and responsibility solely lies on the females, but on a closer observation, the young ones in the bonobos are tolerated by even the males. Conspicuously, in chimpanzees’ family the young ones stay out of the way of the males especially when displaying sexual interests on female. Interestingly, males from both the chimps and bonobos do not mate with close relatives once they mature.

Female Alliances

            According to Potts & Hayden (2013), bonobos are quite social animals that have time for social activities such as grooming. Since their diet consists of very minimal proteins, they do not hunt but focus on eating fruits, leaves and roots; this gives them time to be social and engage with each other. The females for instance get involved in GG rubbing and grooming; this is a sort of a game where they rub their sexual organs while facing each other. The game is meant for pleasure and attracting males; however, the bonobos’ females mate with the males at any time of the year and not necessarily during the mating season.

            The females generally hang about in groups in which the males have to beg and offer favors to enter. The favors in most instances are in form of food; to increase their chances of acceptance in the groups the males entice the females with sex. Sex is a form of a bargaining tool in the bonobos families; irrespective of showing so much interest in sex, the apes are quite relaxed while participating in the activity which indicates that its part of their social living. The relationship between the males and the mother is unique as they protect the young ones till they are of age; however, the relationship between the female and its male off-springs remains close until death. Special relations between females and their male off-springs are made possible by the fact there is low reproduction levels with a female giving birth after five or six years.

Sex, Love not War

            Bonobos have multiple sex partners and have not yet developed the concept of monogamy like in humans; this is besides the fact that they have the ability of separating sex and ending up mating for other reasons apart from reproduction (Waal, 1995). While in the sexual act the bonobos exhibit pleasure similar to that of humans through facial expressions and groaning sounds which means they reach orgasms. Compared to chimps that mate strictly for reproduction purposes, the bonobos have developed the ability of enjoying sex which increases their harmonious relationships and female dominance.

            There is a distinctive difference between the way bonobos and other chimpanzees and other animals mate. Apart from humans a majority of animals mate from behind; interestingly, the bonobos mate facing each other. Females entice the males into mating with them through licking the male sexual organs which is close to oral sex in humans; as earlier stated, the bonobos female is in interested in sex for various reasons. The first one is reproduction which comes naturally, secondly, they engage in sex when they are interested in something from the males such as food. The third reason is for simple interaction; they just have sex because it is pleasurable and its part of their social lives.

Summary

Social Primates

The most interesting aspect about the bonobos ape is the fact that the males are dominated by the females and their close similarity to humans. The apes love for sex is also an issue that became the topic of numerous studies. Since most animals only mate for reproduction purposes, bonobos are different as they have indicated the ability of having sex for other reasons. Bonobos social lives are intertwined with their sexual preferences which increase their peaceful and harmonious interactions.

Conclusion

Bonobos Apes

            Discovered very recently in 1929, bonobos are apes with at least 98% similarity to human beings. The most distinctive aspect of the bonobos is their social lives and their ability of separating mating purposes. It is observed that the apes have sex for other reasons apart from reproduction improve their interactions and social lives. Compared to chimps bonobos are less violent with the young ones being tolerated by all members of the community even the males. In a majority of mammals male dominate the females through aggression or coercion; however, in bonobos the communities are dominated by the females. Female domination in bonobos is accepted with the males allowing the females to take the leading roles.

In the current society, human survival exclusively relies on unity, compassion, and willingness to share the limited resources. When one practices love and kindness to people around them the community and their family benefits. Furthermore, they also benefit as their social network develops. To outsmart others and be successful, science approves the above statement. This has been backed up in clinical studies and therefore true.

During my free time, I help the elderly from my neighborhood for example in preparing meals for them. My mother also told me that she used to do the same. To illustrate, Harvard biologist Wilson suggested that social behavior such as altruism are always genetically automated into a living organism to enable them to survive. This theory is different from Darwin’s theory of natural selection, which explains that the fittest species will survive as compared to others. To illustrate, the natural selection is about every man for himself while the kin selection is about one man for all and all for one (Bergland, 2012). According to the kin selection theory, individuals with altruistic properties prevail because the genetic factors that they shared with kin are transferred. Wilson further explains that the battle between dissimilar levels may create great dramas for instance wars, love matters, and the associations.

I love and promote teamwork. In most organizations have worked they know me for that. I always remember that it’s with teamwork that an organization succeeds. To illustrate, this is supported by modern theories of cooperative behavior support the Wilson theory which suggests that selfless actions provide have a selective advantage to the altruist in terms of benefits. The philosophies illustrate that humans acquire cooperative expertise for the reason that their common interest is to labor sound with others (Bergland, 2012). People should collaborate in order to live, as altruism is not the motive why we liaise. Therefore, since we need others to survive, we are altruistic to them and cooperation is the key to our existence. The evolution of cooperation is a two-step progression, beginning in minor predator-collector groups and complexes later in large societies (Bergland, 2012). According to the theory, humans have some special cooperative capabilities that other primates do not enjoy. For example, these abilities include understanding ones function in the shared work communicating goals, and apportioning the loots justly. The second evolutionary step is where the members in the society become more dependent on another as the society complexes and enlarged (Bergland, 2012). This sense of belonging has resulted in cultural agreements, standards, and establishments that incentivized the moods of communal accountability.

In most cases, I give out or share the little food, clothes, and many other items with others. I do not forcefully do it since I feel that it is the right thing to do and therefore comes out naturally. To illustrate, according to Bergland (2012) the social brain might have a region specifically ingrained to share. The research demonstrations that a monkey acquires certain recompenses in a precise brain area from sharing with another. There are two schools of thought according to the study, which establishes how the social reward system is organized. The first one according to Bergland (2012) explains that there exists a generic reward system for human and other animals, for instance, monkey to survive modified to our communal conduct.

The second school holds that there may be some special circuits for social behavior in humans and other decidedly social animals since it’s very important for the species. To illustrate, the monkeys favored rewording themselves and rewards the other monkey if there is no juice for either of them. Also, they preferred giving juice to the monkey they know to the one they do not recognize. Funnily, they preferred giving lower prestige to higher rank monkeys. Finally, they had no or very little interest in giving juice to a lifeless object. The development of parts of the brain for cooperation, community, and social decisions for example empathy may have been favored during development in apes (Bergland, 2012). These developments may have been evolved to enable one to be nice to the family since they possess the same gene and friends for reciprocal benefits. According to Bergland (2012), anterior insular cortex is the action epicenter of human empathy.

In conclusion, actions of showing compassion to others are required for survival. This includes comforting somebody who is grieved and even advising others to follow the right channel. Working as a team is crucial for the success of an association. This is even required in a family for its victory. Sharing is important for human survival. In most cases, we cannot have everything we need for our survival and thus we must share. Therefore, human beings must show compassion, work as a team and share to exist. This is scientifically proven.

The concept of natural selection by Darwin was based on several observations. He observed that traits are often heritable. Most traits in living organisms are inherited and that offspring vary in their heritable characteristics. The traits of species in any generation will slightly differ from one another and most of these traits will be heritable. In each generation, more species that can survive are produced. Those with heritable characteristics that suit better to the environment survive. Darwin also observed that new species form when reproductive isolation occurs ("The Theory of Evolution (by Natural Selection) | Cornerstones Education").

Fossils are preserved evidence of life from a past geological age. These pieces of evidence include remains of organisms embedded in stratified rocks. The cliffs near lime ridges are one of the world’s richest sources of fossils from the Jurassic period.  Mary Anning was the most famous fossil founder. She is known for discovering the first specimens of physiosol, ethiosol, and pterosaur, the flying reptile ("GCSE Science Revision Evolution Evidence Fossil Records").

How natural selection drives evolution

Natural selection determines the mutations that will live on and those ones that will not as mutations occur. Harmful mutations mutate organisms that have lesser chances of surviving and reproducing. Beneficial mutations mutate organisms that are capable of surviving and reproducing and in turn, the mutation is passed onto its offspring. This concept is known as ‘’survival of the fittest.’’ After many such breeding cycles, the fittest organisms dominate. This is how nature filters out the weak species and evolves population. This is how natural selection guides the process of evolution to incorporate only suitable mutations into the individuals and expunge the bad mutations (Fischbach et al., 4602).

Mutation

Mutation is changing in the sequence of the nucleotide of a chromosome or a gene.

The role of mutation in evolution

Mutations are responsible for the variation that drives evolution. All living organisms would be genetically identical without the mutation. Evolution would not happen since it works by favoring species based on how they are separated by their differences. Evolution cannot choose suitable characteristics if every species in a population possessed similar traits (Freese and Yoshida, 344).

Microbes

Microbes are simple unicellular life forms that thrive without oxygen and get energy by scavenging what molecules they find.

Differences between prokaryotes and eukarysotes

1. The most basic distinction is that eukaryotes possess a "true" nuclei carrying their DNA while genetic material of prokaryotes is not membrane-bound.
2. Chloroplasts and mitochondria in eukaryotes carry out various metabolic processes obtained from endosymbiotic bacteria, whereas endosymbionts are not common in prokaryotes since same processes happen across the cell membrane.
3. Many eukaryotes do not have cell walls whereas a different molecule known as peptidoglycan forms the cell walls prokaryotes.
4. Eukaryotic cells are usually larger than Prokaryotes.
5. Prokaryotes have one loop of firm chromosomal DNA that is accumulated in the nucleoid, whereas the DNA of eukaryotes is contained on tightly bounded chromosomes.
6. Prokaryotes have higher growth and metabolic rates and thus a shorter generation when compared to eukaryotes. This is because Prokaryotes have large surface areas to volume ratio.  
7. The genomes of prokaryotes are compact compared to eukaryotes. This is because the genes of prokaryotes do not have introns and large noncoding regions between each one of them (Kanhere, 3170).

How endosymbiosis lead to the evolution of plants and animals

Endosymbiosis is the process that occurred millions of years ago when a prehistoric microbe swallowed the cyanobacteria. This process is said to be responsible for the early evolution of the eukaryotic cells and the origin of chloroplast and mitochondrion. This microbe, which is the ancestor of the plant cells acquired its internal photosynthesis factory during this process. Cyanobacteria, in turn, became chloroplasts, the organelles that are responsible for photosynthesis (Timmis et al., 125).

Oxygen Revolution

The Oxygen revolution also referred to as the ‘’The Great Oxygenation Event” is the event that leads to the release of molecular oxygen into the atmosphere and aquatic environments. It happened about, 2.3 billion years ago when a mass extinction occurred due to photosynthesis. But this event also paved way for the existence of large organisms on earth. It is the reason behind the invention by organisms of "modern", oxygenic photosynthesis by cyanobacteria ("How a Single-celled Organism Almost Wiped out Life on Earth - Anusuya Willis").