The Naked Bonobo by Lynn Saxon

Author:Lynn Saxon [Saxon, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-02-21T05:00:00+00:00

When we looked at the frequency of heterosexual sex in bonobos we found that male bonobos were not copulating more often than male chimpanzees, nor were they copulating with a greater number of partners (Takahata et al. 1996). Male bonobos do compete for sex with females, and they do have a hierarchy which correlates with their reproductive success. Though female bonobos are not as constantly sexually attractive and receptive as we used to think, they do have a larger proportion of their life than chimpanzee females when they have attractive sexual swellings, and they do spend more of their adult lives with other members of their community.

If extended female sexuality has not brought about a significant increase in the amount of sex available to bonobo males compared to chimpanzee males, the extended sexual swellings of females might have more to do with relations between females than between the sexes. Young immigrant females of both species have extended swellings that ease their acceptance into their new community. In chimpanzees it is about being attractive to the males, and the immigrant adolescent female chimpanzees will be traveling mostly with males when they first enter their new community. Immigrant bonobo females will be traveling with both sexes, and they need to get close to the dominant females in these foraging parties because dominant females will often have priority of access to food.

Bonobos use genital contacts at times of social tension, and immigrant females in particular are experiencing a lot of social stress. Kano (1992) writes that these young females seem to know well that they have no supporters or guardians in the group. He likens the situation to that of a new Japanese bride who bravely enters the groom’s large household. Because the new bride is picked on by her in-laws, and her own family is far away, Kano says she is often under great stress and must be very patient.

Sometimes the young bonobo females can be attacked by resident females (Furuichi 1987), and whereas chimpanzee immigrants can look to the big males for support and protection, in bonobo society they have to ingratiate themselves with the dominant females too. Just as a sexual swelling distracts males from expressing aggression towards young females who want to take food from them, it seems that they can also distract dominant females.

For bonobo females, gg-rubbing is not something especially engaged in by females who like each other, nor is it some laid-back activity they indulge in just for pleasure. Engaging in gg‑rubbing is more about relieving the tension between females who are not friends but competitors over food. It may even benefit dominant females by allowing enough females to come together to collectively defend a food patch. But they are not always willing to share that food, and, as the results from Lomako revealed, dominant females are often quite happy to simply displace subordinates.

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