Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 16, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A19 winnipegfreepress. com SCIENCE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2012 A 19 W ASHINGTON - Behold the bonobo, our ape cousin that's kinder and gentler than the chimp and, well, us. Now scientists have mapped the primate's DNA, and some researchers say that may eventually reveal secrets about how the darker side of our nature evolved. Scientists have found we are as close genetically to the peace- loving but little- known bonobo as we are to the more violent and better- understood chimpanzee. It's as if they are siblings and we are cousins, related to both equally, sharing some traits with just bonobos and other characteristics with just chimps. Bonobos and humans share 98.7 per cent of their genetic blueprint, the same percentage humans share with chimps, according to a study released this week by the journal Nature . The two apes are much more closely related to each other, sharing 99.6 per cent of their genomes, said study lead author Kay Prufer, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. " Humans are a little like a mosaic of bonobo and chimpanzee genomes." Bonobos and chimps have distinctly different behaviours that can be seen in humans, with bonobos displaying what might be thought of as our better angels, said Duke University researcher Brian Hare. Bonobos make love, not war. Chimps have been documented to kill and make war. Bonobos share food with total strangers, but chimps do not. Bonobos stay close to their mothers - who even pick out their sons' mates - long after infancy, like humans. But chimps tend to use tools better and have bigger brains, like humans. " Is the bonobo genome the secret to the biology of peace?" asked Hare, who was not involved in the new research. " They have done something in their evolution that even humans can't do. They don't have the dark side we do. " If we only studied chimps, we'd get a skewed view of human evolution," he said. Bonobos, chimps and humans shared a single common ancestor from about six million years ago, Prufer said. Chimps and bonobos shared the same common ancestor until a million years ago, when the Congo River formed. Then the bonobos developed on one side of the river, the chimps the other. In behaviour, bonobos are far more tolerant. They are inordinately sexual. Instead of releasing tension by fighting, they couple repeatedly. Bonobos are ruled by alpha females, chimps by males. - The Associated Press 3690PortageAve. JustEastofThePerimeter 204- 885- 2623 crownmazda. ca DESTINATION MAZDA isnow.. . 2013 Mazda CX5 $ 0do wn $ 22 , 995 Starting at $ 145 bi- weekly WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD AN SUV WITH BETTER- THAN- A- HYBRID HIGHWAY FUEL ECONOMY* ALL NEW MAZDA CX5 NOW HERE! Stk. # 432373 2012 Mazda 3 GX Cash price was $ 19,231 NOW $ 17 , 231 $ 95 00 bi- weekly $ 0down NOW $ 22 , 131 $ 138 bi- weekly $ 0down Cash price was $ 25,131 Stk. # 432062 2012 Mazda 5 GS 84 months/ S A ME GREA T PEOPLE, S A ME GREA T SER VICE! CURRENT/ PREVIOUSMAZDAOWNERS QUALIFYFORUPTO1% REDUCTION INRATEAND/ ORUPTO$ 1,000IN ADDITIONALCASHREBATES WITH UPTO $ 3000 MOREFOR YOURTRADE 0 % ONALL OR 2012 MODELS All bi weekly payments are based on 84 month financing. Rates are, 2013 Maxda CX5 @ 3.99%, 2012 Mazda 3 @ 0% and 2012 Mazda 5 @ 0% THE INDUSTRY LEADER IN NATURAL AND ECOLOGY FRIENDLY PROGRAMS Call Call Today! To day! * with purcha se of 3 a pp lication programs - p rice based on lot si ze. *$ 55 . 95 per application Prog r a m STAR TING AT www. nutrilawn. com 477- 5296 email: Winnipeg@ nutrilawn. com Meet our kinder cousins Bonobos' DNA holds key to humans' darker side By Seth Borenstein VANESSA WOODS / DUKE UNIVERSITY A mother bonobo plays with her baby. The primates are kinder and gentler than both humans and chimps, and they release tension by making love, not war. A_ 19_ Jun- 16- 12_ FP_ 01. indd A19 6/ 15/ 12 5: 13: 28 PM ;