A bonobo ape, a primate unique to Congo and humankind's closest relative, carries bananas across a pond at a sanctuary just outside the capital Kinshasa, October 31, 2006.GORAN TOMASEVIC
"I want that caterpillar recipe!"
If simians spoke English, that's what a bonobo might say. Bonobo apes are not only the horniest of primates, but according to new research, they're foodies, too.
Scientists from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, have discovered that bonobos "chat" about tasty morsels using barks and peeps, the BBC reports.
At Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom, researchers recorded five distinct calls that told other bonobos where to find kiwis, their preferred food, instead of ho-hum apples.
When the bonobos found the kiwis, they uttered higher-pitched long barks and short "peeps." The discovery of the less-preferred apples elicited lower pitched "peep-yelps" and yelps.
"These animals are highly intelligent and this kind of study highlights their ability to extract meaning from listening to each other's vocalizations," primate expert Zanna Clay told the BBC.
Since bonobos and humans share more than 98 percent of their genetic make-up, it's no wonder these "emo" apes have a culinary bent (if only we shared their "make love, not war" philosophy).
Like us, bonobos face the omnivore's dilemma: What to eat for dinner tonight - a refreshing meal of fruits, nuts, mushrooms and spouts? Or a meaty platter of insect larvae, earthworms and flying squirrels?
But bonobos don't seem as finicky about food prep as other animals, including the Japanese macaque, which washes its food before eating it, and the leaf-cutting ant, which uses feces and saliva on leaves to grow fungus to feed to its young. (There's no accounting for tastes.)
Is the animal kingdom more gourmet than we thought? Where do you think humans rank on the foodie scale?