About Chimpanzees
Physical Characteristics
Most people are familiar with how chimpanzees look, because although wild chimpanzees live only in Africa, they are found in zoos and seen in photos and films all over the world.
Chimps are almost entirely covered in black hair, rather than fur, and may have whiskers on their chin. Their faces and ears as well as the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet are bare skin which can vary in colour between pink and black. Infants have very pale skin and a white tail tuft, which disappears by early adulthood.
Chimpanzees move on all fours, or "quadrupedally," on the ground and in the trees. While walking, they tend to use their knuckles for support and are called "knuckle-walkers." This form of locomotion is due to the fact that chimpanzees have longer arms than legs. Chimps use their long, powerful arms to "brachiate" (swing from branch to branch).
Chimps have both opposable thumbs (these are much shorter compared to human thumbs) and opposable big toes–which enable a precision grip on branches.
Chimpanzee males are slightly larger and heavier than females. At Gombe, adult males weigh between 90 and 115 pounds and measure about 4 feet high when standing upright. Chimpanzees in West Africa or in captivity may be even larger.
Chimpanzees in the wild seldom live longer than 50 years. Some captive individuals have lived more than 60 years.
