Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
Chimpanzees travel around the forests and savannas of central Africa on all fours with a knuckle-walk, using their characteristic long arms and short legs. Sharing 98 percent of human genes, they are our closest living relative and probably the most intelligent non-human animal. They show learned behaviours, long memories and some extraordinary use of tools. Chimpanzees are very similar to humans both in appearance and in their complex social behaviours and societies.
Watch video clips from past programmes (23 clips)
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Foraging expeditions
Great Rift: Africa's wild heart
Venturing out of the forest is an unusual journey for the chimps of the Kyambura Gorge.
Venturing out of the forest is an unusual journey for the chimps of the Kyambura Gorge.
Chimpcam: The Movie
Natural World
The first ever film recorded by chimpanzees.
The first ever film recorded by chimpanzees.
Super chimp brains
Natural World
Scientific tests can show just how smart chimpanzees really are.
Scientific tests can show just how smart chimpanzees really are.
Blood relatives
Journey of Life
Chimpanzees are our closest relatives, sharing 99% of our genes.
Chimpanzees are our closest relatives, sharing 99% of our genes.
Chimp culture
Natural World
Tool use shows us that chimps have particular customs passed down from generation to generation.
Tool use shows us that chimps have particular customs passed down from generation to generation.
Chimp insight
Natural World
Recognising problems and finding solutions is a talent shared by humans and chimps.
Recognising problems and finding solutions is a talent shared by humans and chimps.
Featured in the following TV programmes
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Coming soon
Great Rift: Africa's wild heart: Grass
Looking at the spectacular game herds of East Africa's grasslands.
Fri 12, 20:00 on BBC Two
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Coming soon
Natural World: 2009-2010, Bringing Up Baby
Natural World investigates the vital bond between animal mothers and their babies.
Sun 14, 17:10 on BBC Two
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Catch Up
Natural World: 2009-2010, The Chimpcam Project
A research project gives chimps a special camera to find out how they see the world.
Featured in the following Radio programmes
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Catch Up
Nature: Series 3, In Search of Jenny
The search to find the first gorilla brought out of Africa to live in captivity.
Earth News
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Chimps use cleavers to chop food
For the first time, chimps are seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.
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Chimps use tool kit to catch ants
Chimpanzees in Congo-Brazzaville use special tool kits to snare aggressive army ants, scientists report.
About the Common Chimpanzee
The Common Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also known as the Robust Chimpanzee, is a great ape. The name troglodytes, Greek for 'cave-dweller', was coined by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in his Handbuch der Naturgeschichte (Handbook of Natural History) published in 1779. Colloquially, it is often called the chimpanzee (or simply 'chimp'), though technically this term refers to both species in the genus Pan: the Common Chimpanzee and the closely-related Bonobo, or Pygmy Chimpanzee. The chimpanzee is believed to be the closest living relative of human beings.
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Featured in...
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The wildlife of Life
In autumn 2009, a major new series brought us life as we've never seen it before.
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David Attenborough's favourite moments
David Attenborough's favourite moments from the last 30 years represent not only memorable personal experiences, but also the diversity of life on our planet and the rapidly changing technological face of broadcasting.
Common Names
- Chimpanzee
- Common chimpanzee
The Common Chimpanzee is
- Arboreal
- Co-operative breeder
- Hierarchical
- Polygynandrous
- Seed disperser
- Social
- Territorial
- Viviparous
Adaptation data provided by Animal Diversity Web
Where can I see them?
They can be found in the following habitats:
Conservation Status
The Common Chimpanzee is Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
- EX - Extinct
- EW
- CR - Threatened
- EN - Threatened
- VU - Threatened
- NT
- LC - Least concern
Population trend: Decreasing
Year assessed: 2008
Elsewhere on the web
- Animal Diversity Web (animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu)
- Brain Museum: comparing mammal brains (brainmuseum.org)
- University of Wisconsin primate research centre: fact file (pin.primate.wisc.edu)
- ARKive: Images of Life on Earth (arkive.org)
- IUCN Red List information (iucnredlist.org)
- Jane Goodall Institute: chimpanzee conservation and research (janegoodall.org.uk)
- Common Chimpanzee (wikipedia.org)
Site links
BBC links
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