Chimpanzee
Pan troglodytes
🙊
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Simiiformes
Hominidae
Pan
Pan troglodytes
Pan may derive from the Greek god Pan (nature, forests), or was chosen historically without strong rationale; troglodytes is Greek “cave-dweller” (troglodytēs) — originally assigned because “troglodytes” was used in older taxonomy though chimpanzees do not dwell in caves.
The chimpanzee: our wild cousin, tool-using, socially complex, endangered great ape.
Description
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a species of great ape native to tropical forests and savannas across equatorial Africa. It is one of the two extant species in genus Pan (the other is the bonobo) and one of our closest living relatives.
Chimpanzees are highly intelligent, use tools, exhibit complex social behavior (alliances, hierarchy, cooperative hunting), and show cultural variation across populations.
Their main threats are habitat loss, disease, poaching, and the illegal pet & bushmeat trade. All chimpanzee subspecies are classified as endangered or critically endangered.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
60
1
1.7
kg
m
m
m
Omnivore (frugivore + significant opportunistic meat/insect component)
Hunt History
Chimpanzees share a last common ancestor (LCA) with humans dating to roughly six to seven million years ago in Africa. That ancestral population likely displayed a mix of traits—bipedal curiosity, social intelligence, and omnivorous opportunism—that would flower separately into human culture and chimpanzee society. From that deep root, chimpanzees became sophisticated hunters in their own right.
Modern chimpanzees practice cooperative hunting of smaller mammals, notably red colobus monkeys, bush babies, and duikers. Males often coordinate ambushes through vocal calls and rapid chases, distributing meat through social rank and alliances. Such behavior reveals early precursors to human cooperative hunting and food sharing.
Archaeological and field evidence highlights this predatory culture across regions:
Tai Forest, Côte d’Ivoire – sustained, organized colobus hunting documented by primatologists since the 1970s.
Gombe Stream, Tanzania – Jane Goodall’s seminal observations (1960s) of chimpanzees hunting and sharing meat, transforming our view of their behavioral complexity.
Ngogo, Uganda – high-frequency coordinated hunts recorded since the 1990s, showing a remarkable degree of strategy and social cooperation.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Extant
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
0
BP
Late Pleistocene - Now
Sub-Saharan Africa
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Fat %
Est. Renderable Fat
kg
Targeted Organs
Adipose Depots
Preferred Cuts
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
4