# Common Chimp, Bonobo, Human Hybrids **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823 "2006-11-10T04:24:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ted_baskerville_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/1 "2006-11-10T04:24:00Z")
Can any two these animals be breed together? Has a chimp ever been crossed with bonobo? Is it possible to cross a human with either a chimp or bonobo? Would this be illegal? Where can I get some chimp or bonobo semen? How much would it cost? Or would be better to use human semen on a chimp or bonobo? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/2 "2006-11-10T04:33:24Z")
[QUOTE=ted\_baskerville@yahoo.com] Where can I get some chimp or bonobo semen? [/QUOTE] Assuming that you’re male . . . what, pray tell, would you do with it? (and I have a feeling this thread won’t last very long) ---
**Author:** ![ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ted_baskerville_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/3 "2006-11-10T04:35:46Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Assuming that you’re male . . . what, pray tell, would you do with it? (and I have a feeling this thread won’t last very long) [/QUOTE] I sure (if it was legal), I could get a woman to help with the experiment. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Hound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@Mama\_Hound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Hound)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/4 "2006-11-10T04:37:26Z")
Hey, somebody just asked about that. But nobody told me what a bonobo is. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ted_baskerville_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/5 "2006-11-10T04:41:29Z")
> **[Bonobo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo)** > > The bonobo (/bəˈnoʊboʊ, ˈbɒnəboʊ/; Pan paniscus), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee (less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee), is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus Pan (the other being the common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes). While bonobos are, today, recognized as a distinct species in their own right, they were initially thought to be a subspecies of Pan troglodytes, due to the physical similarities between the two species. Taxon... ---
**Author:** ![ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@ted\_baskerville\_yahoo.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ted_baskerville_yahoo.com)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/6 "2006-11-10T04:48:47Z")
Wiki has an article on some this: > **[Humanzee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee)** > > The humanzee (sometimes chuman, manpanzee or chumanzee) is a hypothetical hybrid of chimpanzee and human, thus a form of human–animal hybrid. Serious attempts to create such a hybrid were made by Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov in the 1920s, and possibly by researchers in China in the 1960s, though neither succeeded. > The portmanteau humanzee for a human–chimpanzee hybrid appears to have entered usage in the 1980s. > The possibility of hybrids between humans and other apes has been enterta... ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/7 "2006-11-10T04:49:26Z")
We have done this topic a number of times before. The basic answer is, there is no real way to be sure if a human/chimp or human/bonobo hybrid is possible without making the experiment. Differences in the number of chromosomes make a fertile hybrid unlikely but not impossible. Animals much more distantly related have been crossed and produced infertile hybrids. I am not aware of chimp/bonobo hybrids but I think it would be likely to be possible. As to where to get bonobo semen, I would suggest inviting one out to dinner and a movie and taking it from there. Wikipedia has some further information [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee) [QUOTE=panache45] (and I have a feeling this thread won’t last very long) [/QUOTE] Why? ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/8 "2006-11-10T05:39:52Z")
Originally Posted by panache45: (and I have a feeling this thread won’t last very long) Originally posted by Colibri: Why? … Well, y’see, sometimes I just get to thinking about swollen bonobo pudenda, and, unk, _unh_, _UNGH_, _aaaaahhhh ohgod ohgod ohgod AAHHHH!!_. _pant __pant__ pant_ Aw, geez. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/9 "2006-11-10T05:52:14Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] [QUOTE=panache45] (and I have a feeling this thread won’t last very long) [/QUOTE] Why? [/QUOTE] Well, my Bonobo girlfriend and I just got done doing the nasty, if you know what I mean. 😉😉 And she was just wondering how to configure her BitTorrent client to download the lastest version of Windows Vista. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/10 "2006-11-10T06:00:47Z")
Yeah, see. In my experience, almost any thread that even mentions bonobo sex will inevitably go on for at least two pages. ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/11 "2006-11-10T10:38:03Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] Yeah, see. In my experience, almost any thread that even mentions bonobo sex will inevitably go on for at least two pages. [/QUOTE] That’s because everyone likes hot monkey sex. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/12 "2006-11-10T11:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=Mama\_Hound] Hey, somebody just asked about that. But nobody told me what a bonobo is. :mad: [/QUOTE] I willing to be one if you’re looking to conduct an experiment. Seriously, though, bonobos are very similar to chimpanzees (their alternative name is the pygmy chimpanzee). The two species look so similar, in fact, that it wasn’t until the late 1920’s that scientists realized they were separate species (bonobos were thought to just be young chimps). ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/13 "2006-11-10T12:14:17Z")
The crude and nasty coments don’t belong in GQ reguardless of the topic. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/14 "2006-11-10T12:21:08Z")
Stalin had tried breeding some apemen. [Here’s the first article I’ve found for it this morning.](http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=2434192005) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/15 "2006-11-10T12:24:43Z")
[QUOTE=ted\_baskerville@yahoo.com] Wiki has an article on some this: > **[Humanzee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanzee)** > > The humanzee (sometimes chuman, manpanzee or chumanzee) is a hypothetical hybrid of chimpanzee and human, thus a form of human-nonhuman hybrid. Serious attempts to create such a hybrid were made by Soviet biologist Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov in the 1920s, and possibly by researchers in China in the 1960s; however, neither succeeded. The portmanteau humanzee for a human–chimpanzee hybrid appears to have entered usage in the 1980s. The possibility of hybrids between humans and other apes has been entert... [/QUOTE] What is the point of your OP? Doesn’t this cite answer your question? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/16 "2006-11-10T12:35:33Z")
Hasn’t there been at least one chimpanzee-gibbon hybrid? I remember reading that those two species are more different genetically than chimps and humans. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/17 "2006-11-10T16:35:02Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Hasn’t there been at least one chimpanzee-gibbon hybrid? I remember reading that those two species are more different genetically than chimps and humans. [/QUOTE] I doubt any such hybrid has been produced, since [this article on possible hybridization in Great Apes](http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/aboutp/myths/koola.html) makes no mention of one. However, hybrids have been produced between siamangs and gibbons; the siamang is basically a large species of gibbon, placed in a separate genus. I would guess offhand that siamangs and gibbons are more different genetically than chimps and humans, though I have no specific information on the exact degree of relatedness. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/18 "2006-11-10T17:05:59Z")
Frans de Waal noted, in _Our Inner Ape_, that chimp/donobo hybrids exist-- an accidental cross-breeding that happened in a French Circus. It was a male bonobo mated with several female chimps. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/19 "2006-11-10T19:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] However, hybrids have been produced between siamangs and gibbons; the siamang is basically a large species of gibbon, placed in a separate genus. I would guess offhand that siamangs and gibbons are more different genetically than chimps and humans, though I have no specific information on the exact degree of relatedness. [/QUOTE] Do you know which species were hybridized? According to Dawkins, the closest gibbon relatives to the siamang (_Symphalangus_) are \*Hylobates \*and \*Bunopithecus \*which branched off about 8M years ago. \*Nomascus \*branched off from those 3 about 10-11M years ago. And because of that relationship (derived from DNA analysis, not morphological analysis), he uses the term “gibbon” for all the species of small, Asian apes. Whichever it was, it would appears that they would probably be more genetically dissimiliar than chimps and humans. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823/20 "2006-11-10T21:06:15Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Well, my Bonobo girlfriend and I just got done doing the nasty, if you know what I mean. [/QUOTE] If what you mean is flinging poo, then I know what you mean. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/common-chimp-bonobo-human-hybrids/379823.md?page=2)