Have you ever heard of bonobos? No, not bananas. Bonobos!

Bonobos are a type of great ape. They live in central Africa in a place called the Congo Basin. They are found in forests and swamps.

Bonobos are similar to chimpanzees. Like chimps, they are related to humans. They are one of our closest animal relatives.

Bonobos are not as well known as chimps. For a long time people thought they were chimps. In 1929 scientists decided they were another species.

Scientists saw that the chimps lived on one side of the Congo River. The bonobos lived on the other side. They could not swim across.

Because they could not swim, they were separated when the river formed. That happened over a million years ago. That is how they developed into two different species.

Bonobos are different than chimps because they are smaller than chimps. They also have darker faces. They walk on two legs more often. They sound different too.

But in many ways they are the same. They both eat fruit. They both live in big groups called troops.

Some people think the name bonobo was actually a mistake. They say it came from a misspelling of the town of Bolobo. Other people say that bonobo comes from the ancient Bantu word for ancestor. Either way, learning about bonobos is interesting. They can teach us a lot about apes, and a lot about ourselves.