What is the scientific name for the bonobo?

The scientific name for the bonobo is Pan paniscus. It is one of the two living species in the genus Pan, alongside the common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. Bonobos are great apes native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, living in forests south of the Congo River.

Bonobos were long mistaken for young or unusually small common chimpanzees. German anatomist Ernst Schwarz recognized them as distinct in 1928 after examining a skull in Belgium’s Tervuren Museum; the species was formally described the following year. The old nickname “pygmy chimpanzee” is now generally avoided because bonobos are not simply miniature chimpanzees.

A common mix-up is confusing Pan paniscus with Pan troglodytes, the scientific name of the common chimpanzee. The two species are closely related and separated geographically by the Congo River, but bonobos tend to have longer limbs, darker faces, pinker lips, and distinctive social behavior. They are also among humanity’s closest living relatives, sharing the genus Pan with chimpanzees.