Although wild chimpanzees are only found in Africa, most people are aware of what they look like from zoos, photos and films.
Chimpanzees have black hair and pinkish to black bare skin on their faces (except for hairs on the chin), ears, palms of their hands, and soles of their feet. Infants have very pale skin in these areas and a white tail tuft, which disappears by early adulthood.
Chimpanzees walk on all fours, or "quadrupedally," on the ground and in the trees. As they use their knuckles for support they are sometimes reffered to as "knuckle-walkers." This form of locomotion means chimpanzees have evolved to have longer arms than legs. They use these long arms to reach out for fruits growing on thin branches that would not usually support their weight and "brachiate" (swing from branch to branch by their arms).
Chimps have opposable thumbs (although these are much shorter than human thumbs) and their opposable big toes enable a precision grip. Male Chimpanzees are slightly larger and heavier than females. At Gombe in East Africa, adult males weigh between 90 and 115 pounds and measure approximately 4 feet when standing upright. Females are slightly smaller. In contrast, Chimpanzees in West Africa, and in captivity, can be larger. In the wild, Chimpanzees rarely live longer than 50 years, although captive individuals can live for over 60 years.
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