Kevin D. Hunt
Chimpanzee: Lessons from our Sister Species

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 470 pp.
Published in 2019
Online ISBN: 9781108674218
DOI: 10.1017/9781108674218

The chimpanzee is one of our planet's best-loved and most instantly recognisable animals. Splitting from the human lineage between four and six million years ago, it is (along with its cousin, the bonobo) our closest living relative, sharing around 94% of our DNA. First encountered by Westerners in the seventeenth century, virtually nothing was known about chimpanzees in their natural environment until 1960, when Jane Goodall travelled to Gombe to live and work with them. Accessibly written, yet fully referenced and uncompromising in its accuracy and comprehensiveness, this book encapsulates everything we currently know about chimpanzees: from their discovery and why we study them, to their anatomy, physiology, genetics and culture. The text is beautifully illustrated and infused with examples and anecdotes drawn from the author's thirty years of primate observation, making this a perfect resource for students of biological anthropology and primatology as well as non-specialists interested in chimpanzees.

Foreword (pp. ix–x) / Richard Wrangham

Preface (pp. xi–xiv)

Acknowledgments (pp. xv–xx)

Chapter 1. Sister's Keeper: Humans and Chimpanzees (pp. 1–8)

Chapter 2. Wild Lesson: Why Study Animals in Nature? (pp. 9–19)

Chapter 3. A Most Surprising Creature: The Discovery of the Chimpanzee (pp. 20–39)

Chapter 4. Kin: The Chimpanzee's Place in Nature (pp. 40–60)

Chapter 5. Scratching Out a Living in an Unforgiving World: Habitat and Diet (pp. 61–79)

Chapter 6. Guts, Glorious Guts, Large Stomach, and Colon: Plant Chemistry, Fruit Ripening, Digestive Physiology, and Gut Anatomy (pp. 80–96)

Chapter 7. Thews, Sinews and Bone: Chimpanzee Anatomy and Osteology (pp. 97–118)

Chapter 8. Arboreal Gathering, Terrestrial Traveling: Locomotion and Posture (pp. 119–130)

Chapter 9. Forged in Nature's Cauldron: Engineering the Chimpanzee (pp. 131–157)

Chapter 10. Up from the Protoape: The Evolution of the Chimpanzee (pp. 158–187)

Chapter 11. Building a Natural Wonder: Growth, Development and Life History (pp. 188–216)

Chapter 12. The Source of Similarity: Chimpanzee Genetics (pp. 217–241)

Chapter 13. Making Your Way in the Great Wild World: Chimpanzee Senses (pp. 242–251)

Chapter 14. The Grim Reaper in the Forest Primeval: Wild Chimpanzee Diseases and Lessons for Healthy Living (pp. 252–273)

Chapter 15. Powering Life: Endocrinology and Physiology (pp. 274–297)

Chapter 16. Shelter from the Storm: Chimpanzee Mothering (pp. 298–311)

Chapter 17. Meat-Seeking Missiles: Chimpanzees as Hunters (pp. 312–322)

Chapter 18. The Mind of The Chimpanzee: Reasoning, Memory and Emotion (pp. 323–356)

Chapter 19. The Brain of the Chimpanzee: The Mind's Motor (pp. 357–371)

Chapter 20. Tired Nature's Sweet Restorer: Chimpanzee Sleep (pp. 372–382)

Chapter 21. Chimpanzee Thought Transfer: Communication and Language (pp. 383–403)

Chapter 22. Ape Implements: Making and Using Tools (pp. 404–418)

Chapter 23. Wisdom of the Ages: Chimpanzee Culture (pp. 419–426)

Chapter 24. The Daily Grind: Within-Group Aggression (pp. 427–436)

Chapter 25. A Nation at War with Itself: Defending a Community of the Mind (pp. 437–448)

Chapter 26. The Sporting Chimpanzee: Dominance without Destruction (pp. 449–457)

Chapter 27. The Passion of Pan: Sex and Reproduction (pp. 458–472)

Chapter 28. Into the Light: Semliki Chimpanzees (pp. 473–498)

Chapter 29. The Other Sister, Bonobos: The Monkey Convergence Hypothesis (pp. 499–516)

Chapter 30. Sister Species: Lessons from the Chimpanzee (pp. 517–535)

Appendix 1. Taxonomy of the Primates (pp. 536–552)

Appendix 2. Professional Grade Chimpanzee: Testable Hypotheses (pp. 553–558)

Index (pp. 559–576)