Book Description

Planet Ape brings you face to face with your closest living relatives, the Great Apes.Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orang-utans are only a hair's breadth away from us in evolutionary terms; our DNA differs by just a few per cent. These fascinating creatures hold up a mirror to humanity, giving us insights into our past, our present, and perhaps even our future - the environmental pressures they face today could be those we face tomorrow. Planet Ape reveals the Great Apes in unprecedented detail: where they live, how they live and the challenges they face. Throughout, the approach is to compare them with each other and with us, their cousins. Using innovative artworks, photographs and text, the book makes key comparisons with human beings including anatomy, social life, physical and mental development, diet and communication. From peace-loving bonobos to warring chimpanzee communities, from highly sociable gorillas to solitary orang-utans, from their amazing communication skills to their breathtaking physical agility, Planet Ape is the first book to do justice to the diversity and complexity of the ape world and what it tells us about our own.