Small Chimps, Big Risks: What Chimps Show Us About Our Own Behavior

What Chimps Reveal About Human Parenting

Young chimpanzees differ from human children in a key way—the hairier creatures seem to take physical risks earlier on. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . People tend to behave most recklessly during adolescence, according to data from around the world, and boys are more prone to risk-taking than girls are. To learn more about this phenomenon, scientists have set up experiments where they ask young people to take…

Risks young chimps take as they swing through the trees underscore role of protective parenting in humans

Infant chimpanzees are out of mom's reach the majority of the time they descend from the trees. Kevin Lee/Ngogo Chimpanzee Project and Arizona State UniversityAdolescents are known for risky behavior, with teenagers in the U.S. more likely than younger children to die from injury. But what’s responsible for this uptick in risk-taking around puberty? Our new observations of physical risk-taking in chimpanzees suggests that the rise in risk-taking…

Small chimps, big risks: What chimps show us about our own behavior

The riskiest behavior in humans peaks in adolescence. Researchers from the University of Michigan and James Madison University expected to find risky behavior to peak in adolescence in a study of chimpanzees as well. But instead, they found that chimpanzee infants take the greatest risks.