Name: The gentle genius of bonobos
Uploaded: 2007-04-05T00:11:00Z
Duration: 17 min 11 s
Description: Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobo apes, which can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, forces the audience to rethink how much of what a species can do is determined by biology -- and how much by cultural exposure.

Savage-Rumbaugh's work with bonobo apes, which can understand spoken language and learn tasks by watching, forces the audience to rethink how much of what a species can do is determined by biology -- and how much by cultural exposure.

The gentle genius of bonobos

Bonobos raised alongside humans demonstrate remarkable abilities once thought unique to people, like making stone tools and understanding language. One bonobo learned to start fires with a lighter and used symbols to communicate desires. These apes pick up skills not through training but simply by watching and joining in daily life. Their story challenges the idea that biology alone defines what a species can achieve.