Chimp (Geographic) Variations
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by zoogirl1
It has recently come to my attention that there are actually 4 distinct variations of chimps based on location (West African, Eastern, Central) and Bonobo (only in Congo).
Very different facial characterisitcs - complexion color, fur, balding patterns. I attributed these to usual variations in population. Guess not.
Any use?
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by MimiA scientist, moderator
Hi @zoogirl1
It would be great if you could cite where you got that information from because although people with a lot of experience can sometimes tell the subspecies apart, it isn't really cut and dry. You can see for yourself that it is very challenging for example in the videos from Restless Star (Eastern chimps) and Aged Violet (Western chimps). Also, in zoos and sanctuaries the chimps are usually of unkown origin/subspecies unless there are very clear records of where they (or their fore-bearers) were wild caught or if genetic tests were done.
Thanks for sharing!
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by zoogirl1
I have a book - The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals by Jonathan Kingdon 2nd edition
The primate section - page 96 in particular - has the four different faces. Previous page has the description for the differences.
I have found it useful for the duikers also. if you can't get the source for some reason, I could try to take a pic or somehow get the info here.
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by zoogirl1
This is the image for the face variations. Source cited above:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B30S34nQ6uFSejhHalM2bmo3SXc
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by MimiA scientist, moderator
It is certainly interesting but as far as I know there is a lot of overlap between the morphological variation seen across subspecies:
for example
east african chimps: https://www.facebook.com/pg/NgogoChimps/photos/?ref=page_internal
central chimps: http://www.congo-apes.org/the-apes/
thanks for sharing though!
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by AnLand moderator
Just because I stumbled about another illustration of chimp subspecies variation and it's kind of different from @zoogirl1's earlier posting. In my opinion the big ears and form of brows (in the P. t. verus species) are in good agreement with our Western African sites. For me these differences mainly mean that at a certain site, some phenotypic traits might be spread wider and are maybe not enough to distinguish between the individuals as several might be that bald or have exceptionally big ears, independent from whether this is a subspecies, or just "family" thing. But I wanted to post it ...
The illustration by Stephen D. Nash is from https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2003-126.pdf
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by ksigler moderator
I agree with @MimiA that this is interesting, but must be taken with a grain of salt. There will be significant variations within the variations that can't be captured in a single illustration. Still super fascinating, though! (I try to play the, "where are they from" game with people's facial structures, as well, but it's even more convoluted.)
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by AnLand moderator
Even if not discussing anything here anymore. Here finally the picture from @zoogirl1 - it's just nice.
Source: Jonathan Kingdon: The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals, Second Edition, London 2015 (Bloomsbury), p. 96
For linking pictures, you need to provide not only a web link, but a direct picture link. Something like: "http://xxyyxxyy.jpg".
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by AnLand moderator
We can use this thread – without reference to subspecies differences that might be more genetically and geographically motivated than phenotypically – to raise a bit more awareness to the general differences in the appearance between individual chimps apart from cuts, scars, and missing limbs that are rather "personal". We could look at different baldness patterns, brow forms, grayness on the back/legs, beards etc. and make some good visual comparisons for other volunteers. There seems to be some interest in this and it might help for the general matching process.
I start with an example for balding patterns. (Collages like this can be made with Be funky if anyone is interested.)
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by AnLand moderator
Another facial feature that we are discussing during chimp matching are the brow forms. They can be straight, rounded, anything in between and may feature some damage as well. As in humans, chimp brows are to a certain extent mobile, e.g., can be raised. Different camera angles and distances can alter the appearance of the brows as well. You may find this work sheet interesting (thanks @NuriaM for the link).
And here some visuals:
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