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[NSFW] Did the lechers among us evolve from the Bonobo's side of our common ancestor's family?

Asked by ETpro (34605points) June 7th, 2013

You know how randy bonobos are, right? If not, this link will provide you the deliciously sordid details. That out of the way, let’s look at what sparked this question.

In a study published in the journal, Frontiers in Comparitive Psychology (or if that’s too nerdy to read, here in the popular press) researchers reveal that human infants, baby chimpanzees and baby bonobos all use the same sorts of gestures to communicate the same needs and desires. The conclusion is that we three species (chimps and bonobos are our closest primate relatives) all inherited such gesturing from a common ancestral primate who lived approximately 6 million years ago. So that leaves me wondering if those among us who seem constantly preoccupied with sex and willing to try it in its every form—M/F, M/M, F/F, M/F/M, F/M/F, F/F/F, M/M/M, etc., etc.—might have descended from the bonobo side of our common ancestor’s ape family. Following that logic on, who among us clearly descended from the aggressive, murderous, cannibalistic chimp side of our common ancestors?

What a conundrum. We can decide our closest ancestral kin was a bunch of sex-crazed bisexual lechers, or a bunch of murderous, greedy, cannibalistic thugs. Not much moral high ground in there, is there? So, if that’s all we have to choose from, where do the genes for people like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela come from? And which side of the family do you think you descended from?

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