Chimpanzee

a manlike ape of equatorial Africa. Its arms are long; the hind toe acts like a thumb. It is smaller and more active than a gorilla. It usually walks on all fours with its fingers doubled under the palm of the hand, but by grasping its thighs with its hands, also walks erect, the most nearly so of all apes. The skin is yellow and is clothed with shining black hair which hangs at a considerable length about the head and shoulders. The chimpanzee is fitted for climbing. Its natural food consists of fruit and birds' eggs. The female brings forth its young on a rude platform of sticks put together in a lofty tree-top and abandoned as soon as the young is able to accompany its parent. The chimpanzee feeds chiefly at night, and is dreaded by planters, whose banana plantations are likely to be ruined by the nocturnal visits of these destructive animals. It is the most human of all apes. It can be taught in captivity to eat with a knife and fork and to perform many tricks requiring, not only powers of imitation, but intelligence and judgment. See Gorilla; Orang-Utan; Monkey