Chimpanzees are known to spend their nights in tree-top nests. Have you ever wondered how clean their sleeping quarters are compared to ours? Science finally has the answer.
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Chimpanzees make their beds, just like us. Well, not exactly like us but they do sleep in beds — or rather nests — and they quite literally "make" them.
The great apes climb up into the trees where they lace branches together to construct a solid foundation on which they build a sort of arboreal mattress. They even pad it out with a soft cover made of leaves and twigs.
And they keep their beds clean — cleaner than many humans, apparently. At least that's what a team of researchers from North Carolina State University in the United States has discovered.
The researchers took a close look at 41 chimpanzee nests in Tanzania, taking swabs and then analyzing the samples for microbial biodiversity. They also used a vacuum cleaner-style device on 15 of the nests to collect a sample of the arthropods, such as insects and spiders, as well as other tiny critters that dwell there.
And their findings may surprise you.
As to be expected, the microbial life they found in the treetops was quite different from your average human bedroom but what was interesting is that the researchers detected almost no oral, skin or fecal bacteria.
"We found almost none of those microbes in the chimpanzee nests, which was a little surprising," says Megan Thoemmes, lead author of the study, which was published in Royal Society Open Science.
It's especially surprising when you consider that 35 percent of the bacteria in our beds comes from our own bodies. (A pillow that's been in use for one week already has 17,000 times more bacteria than a typical toilet seat.)
The researchers also found few insects or ectoparasites. Those are parasites that live outside of their host.
"We also expected to see a significant number of arthropod parasites, but we didn't," Thoemmes says. "There were only four ectoparasites found, across all the nests we looked at. And that's four individual specimens, not four different species."
Looks like our closest living primate relatives are a lot tidier than one might think.
Great apes - primates like us
There are seven species of great apes. Can you list them all? Check below - we're happy to help.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P.Knecht
Chimpanzee
All seven species of great apes share the following characteristics: no tail, a large skull with a large brain, a curved spine and an opposable or prehensile thumb. Like the chimpanzee, which is at home in central Africa and known for its often aggressive behavior.
Image: picture alliance/Arco Images GmbH
Bonobo
The Bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, is a really peaceable ape. "Make love, not war" is its motto. Bonobos use frequent sex to ease tension in the group; they are also into French kissing and oral sex. Bonobos only live in the Democatic Republic of Congo.
Image: AP
Borneo orangutan
There are two species of orangutans: one lives on the island of Borneo, the other on Sumatra. Both live on trees, have very long arms and hand-like feet that they use for climbing. Bornean orangutans are squat, they are heavier than their cousins on Sumatra, and their fur is darker and longer.
Image: picture-alliance/WILDLIFE
Sumatra orangutan
The Sumatra orangutan's fur is more reddish than that of the Borneo orangutan, the males' cheek pads are less pronounced and often covered in white hair. Sumatra orangutans also spend less time on the ground than their Bornean cousins. Experts suspect the reason to stay aloft may be the Sumatra tiger, which also preys on orangutans.
Image: Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP/Getty Images
Eastern gorilla
Gorillas are subdivided into two subspecies, the Eastern and the Western gorilla. The Eastern gorilla is bigger, its fur is darker, and the species is subdivided even further into the Eastern lowland and the Mountain gorilla (photo).
Image: Rainer Dückerhoff
Western gorilla
The Western gorilla is also subdivided, into the Western lowland (photo) and the profoundly endangered Cross River gorilla. Almost all gorillas in zoos are Western lowland gorillas. In the wild, there are far more Western gorillas than the Eastern species. The former also live in smaller groups.
Image: AP
Human
Is there a great ape missing? Right: We, too are great apes. We humans are more closely related to chimpanzees and bonobos than the chimps are to gorillas. But we're the only great ape species that isn't threatened by extinction.