Humankind's two closest primate relatives are often said to embody contrasting sides of our nature: peace-loving bonobos versus violence-prone chimpanzees.Since their recognition as a species distinct from chimpanzees, bonobos have been romanticized for their free-spirited nature.
Bonobos have long had a reputation for being peaceable apes that are more interested in making love and solving conflicts than starting fights, almost pacifist in nature compared to their aggressive relatives, the chimpanzees. But new research in the journal Current Biology suggests that this prevailing view is wide of the mark, as Boston University’s Maud Mouginot explains.