LOL! NEW STUDY SAY'S WE SHOULD DO WHAT THE BONOBOS DO & MAKE LOVE NOT WAR!

Humans are a lot like chimps - but experts say we could stand to be a little more like bonobos, their amorous ape cousins.
While chimpanzees are likely to fight over a banana, bonobos would rather share their treat with a friend after engaging in various kama sutra positions.

"They have figured out a way to live without violence," said Vanessa Woods, a Duke University research scientist who studies the behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos in the war-torn Republic of Congo.

"In tense situations, instead of fighting, they have sex," said Woods of bonobos, a species of pygmy chimpanzees that are female-dominant chimp look-alikes but with black faces, hair parted down the middle and pink lips better suited for kissing.

In her new memoir, "Bonobo Handshake" (Gotham, $26), Woods writes of her mesmerizing days at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, the world's only safe haven for orphaned bonobos, whose mothers were likely killed for their meat.

Surprisingly little is known about the endangered primates, and only about 15,000 are thought to still live in the wild.

But scientists say bonobos share 98% of our DNA, which makes them one of our closest living relatives - and another excellent model for human behavior.

"The question is, how much of us is chimpanzee, how much is bonobo, and how much belongs just to us, as humans?" Woods said.

Recent findings showed that bonobos, like humans, are cooperative, altruistic and will even share food with a stranger.

"It's a trait rarely seen in other animals," said Brian Hare, an assistant professor of evolution biology at Duke University, and an expert in chimpanzee and bonobo behavior in African sanctuaries.

Hare also is Woods' husband and the founder of the year-old Duke Canine Cognition Center, where "game playing" studies try to delve deeper into how dogs think and solve problems.

"We're trying to come up with useful tests for dog psychology that can be applied to the real world," he said, and so far, more than 1,000 curious dog owners have signed up.

Chimps, bonobos and dogs aren't the only animals that challenge the assumption about the difference between animals and humans.

Whales have been found to have the same brain cells previously found only in humans and apes, which allow us to feel love and suffer emotionally.

"There is more than one way to wire a powerful brain, and after all, the human certainly is not so unique an animal on the planet," said Dr. Patrick Hof, a professor of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and co-discoverer of the whale's "spindle" cells.

"It is amazing to realize what other species can teach us about ourselves."

Today, Woods, Hare and Hof will gather with fellow scientists Marc Hauser, Jeremy Niven and Klaus Zuberbühler for a panel discussion, "All Creatures Great and Smart," from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at NYU Skirball Center, at Laguardia Place and W. Fourth St.

The event is part of the World Science Festival, a series of 50 events that run through June 6.

Tomorrow, evolutionary biologist Marc Hauser will help determine your dog's IQ at the World Science Festival Street Fair in Washington Square Park, taking place from 10 a.m. to 6pm. For details, visit to www.worldsciencefestival.com.