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Photo courtesy www.daveliggett.com
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Bonobos, often called the "lovers" of the
animal kingdom, are highly promiscuous. They engage in bond-free mating and
intercourse regularly, as well as daily (Patterson, 1979).
Within the bonobo society, they have such a loose mating system due to an
increased level of female receptivity to the male, as well as both female and
male initiation. Another attribute to their promiscuity is their ability to
live in multimale/multifemale groups. The
bonobos use sex as a tension-reduction mechanism that helps them to relieve
stress, which in turn allows them to decrease aggression. This allows them to
interact with each other an a calmer level when heightened emotions come into
play, such as finding a new food source, or a female being in estrus
(Patterson, 1979). This tension-reduction mechanism also plays a large role
in promoting sociability within the society, and decreasing sexual dimorphism
(Blount, 1990).
The bonobos are very interesting (And very much like humans) because they use
various copulatory positions when mating (think Kama Sutra). They will engage
in ventral-ventral as well as dorsal-ventral positions (Blount, 1990).
Females prefer the ventral-ventral position for its greater ability to
stimulate her perinneal swelling. Because of this preference, females will
also engage in homosexual actions, rubbing their swelling with another female
in what is known as GG rubbing. Adult males prefer the dorsal-ventral position.
Subadult males do not have a preference in their copulatory position. This
explains the higher success rate for the females, because of the subadults
willingness to copulate in the position the females prefer (Patterson, 1979).
As a side note, a large taboo within the bonobo society is that often, the
females with copulate with their male offspring, also suggesting their high
dependency on sexual behavior (Gibbons, 1992).
Another difference is the increased role of the father in the investment with
the young. Females continue to care the most for the young, but males will
comfort a hurt offspring, or carry them on their back. This behavior, along
with cooperative care for the young, suggests that alloparenting is utilized
within the bonobos. (Enomoto, 1990). The females have a gestation period of
approximately 244 days, and have only 1 baby a year, and will have a new
offspring every 5 to 6 years, and reach sexual maturity at around 10 years of
age. Reproduction begins at around 12 years of age (Aquarium, 2003). Her
menstrual cycle lasts for 49 days, as well as her intermenstrual cycle. She
is in estrus for 75% of her menstrual cycle, and estrus is shown by perineal
swelling of her genitalia. Female bonobos will also mate during pregnancy,
intermenstrual cycles, as well as lactation (Dahl, 1986).
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