Skip to main content
Log in

External body dimensions ofPan paniscus andPan troglodytes chimpanzees

  • Published:
Primates Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Postcranial skeletal studies have demonstrated thatPan paniscus is a more gracile animal thanPan troglodytes, with different arm to leg proportions. Published data on external body dimensions are extremely rare forPan paniscus, however. We present here a series of such measures for a sample ofpaniscus, and we compare these to similar measures forPan troglodytes. This comparison further clarifies the morphological distinctions between the two chimpanzee species, and indicates that bonobos have longer legs and smaller chest girths relative to overall body height than doPan troglodytes chimpanzees.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ashton, E. H., 1954. Age changes in some bodily dimensions of apes.Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 124: 587–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourne, G. H., 1976. Pygmy chimpanzees at the Yerkes Center.Yerkes Newslet., 13(1): 2–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coolidge, Jr., H. J., 1933.Pan paniscus: Pygmy chimpanzee from south of the Congo River.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol. (old series), 18: 1–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freckhop, S., 1935. A propos du chimpanzé de la rive gauche du Congo.Bull. Mus. Roy. Hist. Nat. Belge, 11: 1–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gijzen, A., 1975. Studbook ofPan paniscus Schwarz, 1929.Acta Zool. Path., 61: 57–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansinger, M. J., E. L. Simons, D. R. Pilbeam, A. D. Horn &J. S. Gartlan, 1974. The 1972 field study of the pygmy chimpanzee (Pan paniscus) in central Africa.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 40: 139. (Abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, A. D., 1979. The taxonomic status of the bonobo chimpanzee.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 51: 273–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kano, T., 1979. A pilot study on the ecology of pygmy chimpanzees,Pan paniscus. In:The Great Apes,D. A. Hamburg &E. R. McKown (eds.), Benjamin/Cummings, Menlo Park, pp. 123–135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuroda, S., 1979. Grouping of the pygmy chimpanzees.Primates, 20: 161–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1980. Social behavior of the pygmy chimpanzees.Primates, 21: 181–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nishida, T., 1972. Preliminary information of the pygmy chimpanzees (Pan paniscus) of the Congo Basin.Primates, 13: 415–425.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, V., 1967a. On the identity of the ape described byTulp 1641.Folia Primatol., 5: 80–87.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1967b.The Apes. Dutton, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rode, R. C., 1941. Etude d'un chimpanzé pygmée adolescent (Pan satyrus paniscus Schwarz).Mammalia, 5: 50–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schouteden, H., 1929. A propos du chimpanzé de la rive gauche du Congo.Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 17: 29.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1930. Le chimpanzé de la rive gauche du Congo.Bull. Cercle Zool. Congolais, 7(4): 114–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, A. H., 1954. Bemerkungen zum variabilität und systematik der schimpansen.Saug. Mitt., 2: 159–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1956. Postembryonic age changes.Primatologica, 1: 887–964.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwarz, E., 1928. Le chimpanzé de la rive gauche du Congo.Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 16: 70–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1929. Das Vorkommen des Schimpansen auf den linken Kongo-Ufer.Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr., 16: 425–426.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shea, B. T., 1981. Relative growth of the limbs and trunk in the African apes.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 56: 179–201.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • ————, 1982. Growth and size allometry in the African Pongidae: Cranial and postcranial analyses. Ph. D. Thesis, Duke Univ., Durham, North Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Susman, R. L., N. L. Badrian &A. J. Badrian, 1980. Locomotor behavior ofPan paniscus in Zaïre.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 53: 69–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tratz, E. &H. Heck, 1954. Der Afrikanische Anthropoide “Bonobo,” eine neue Menschenaffengattung.Saugetierk. Mitt., 2: 97–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urbain, A. &P. Rode, 1940. Un chimpanzé pygmée (Pan satyrus paniscus Schwarz) au Parc Zoologique du Bois de Vincennes.Mammalia, 4: 12–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandebroek, G., 1969.Evolution des Vertébrés de Leur Origine à l'Homme. Masson, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zihlman, A. L. &D. L. Cramer, 1978. Skeletal differences between pygmy (Pan paniscus) and common (Pan troglodytes) chimpanzees.Folia Primatol., 29: 86–94.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

About this article

Cite this article

Coolidge, H.J., Shea, B.T. External body dimensions ofPan paniscus andPan troglodytes chimpanzees. Primates 23, 245–251 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381164

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381164

Keywords

Navigation