The Bonobo The most recent Great Ape to be recognized by science was the Bonobo, Pan paniscus.
This was first recognized as a separate species in about 1926, but living Bonobos were not discovered in the wild until the 1970's.
However...
However, although this is the generally accepted story of the scientific discovery and description of the Bonobo, there is another side to it.
There is considerable evidence that rather than the Bonobo being the last African Ape discovered; it was actually the first.
In 1641 the Dutch anatomist Nicolaas Tulp dissected an ape's body.
He described it in great detail.
In the past it has been considered that the ape was a Chimpanzee.
But the ape was from Angola.
There are no Chimpanzees in Angola now.
There are also no Bonobos, but since Angola is South of the River Congo, and neither Chimpanzees nor Bonobos can cross this mighty river; it seems more likely that the ape was a Bonobo.
The description also fits a Bonobo slightly better than a chimpanzee.
Nicolaas Tulp commented on the extreme similarity to Humans.
Bonobos and Humans When Apes first came to the attention of Europeans, they were considered to be a type of Human.
Much later, when Carl Linnaeus who invented the Binomial system used for scientific names, he put Humans and Chimpanzees in different genera.
Later in life he apparently bitterly regretted this decision.
Clearly he then thought that he should have put Chimpanzees in the genus Homo.
Of course, Linnaeus lived before Charles Darwin.
There is nothing to suggest that he thought that Humans and Chimpanzees were evolved from a common ancestor.
Relatives The closet relative of the Bonobo is the Chimpanzee.
They apparently evolved from a common ancestor between one and a half and two million years ago.
Apart from each other, their closest relative is Human Beings.
They seem to have evolved from a common ancestor perhaps four million years ago.
Gorillas are not as close to Bonobos as Humans are.
Intelligence Bonobos are not as intelligent as Human beings, but there are similarities in the type of intelligence displayed.
For example, Bonobos can plan for things in the future.
Diet Bonobos are omnivores like Human Beings and Chimpanzees.
Their main food is fruit, but they also eat some meat.
Generally they eat less meat than either Humans or Chimps.
They will eat small birds, small antelopes and other small animals.
Earth Worms are a delicacy.
Bonobos will also catch and eat fish.
They are more aquatic than the other apes, and although they do not naturally swim, they are happy wading even in quite deep water.
Symbiosis Bonobos do not appear to keep pets in the same way as Humans, but some groups will form loose relationships with small monkeys.
Lice Picking I remember some old films of monkeys grooming each other, and picking something off the other monkey and eating it.
The old idea was that they were eating lice.
Then it was announced that they were not eating lice, but were getting small flecks of salt from the other monkey's fur.
However, my wife who comes from the Philippines told me about pet monkeys that groom their Human masters, picking lice from their hair.
It is clear that the groups of Bonobos that live with monkeys do so with both getting advantages.
The Bonobos get their external parasites removed while the monkeys get some food and some protection from the larger and more intelligent Bonobos.
This is different from Chimpanzees which hunt and eat monkeys.
The eating of monkeys by Bonobos is not unknown, but the eating of animals normally considered as pets is also not unknown in Humans.