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Perhaps other animals also have this capacity for understanding, but they have not accessed it because it has not yet been required of them. Furthermore, viewing the Bonobos' and other animals' together, one can make the claim that learning is a highly specific process that requires not only biology -- or connections in the brain, but also culture or nurture.
While this information is certainly interesting in its application to primates, it is perhaps even more important when generalized to apply to humans. First, it is possible that early humans used their incredible talent for learning like the Bonobos do when attempting to adapt to humans. Perhaps learning was somehow involved in the adaptation process, allowing humans to grasp greater heights. Further, the Bonobos' ability to learn in such a way suggests that humans, too, have the ability to continue growing and learning, perhaps someday evolving into something even greater -- a species that is even more advanced. Merzenich's lab works supports this, suggesting that new actions are correlated...
If humans continue to try to reach seemingly impossible goals, to try to use their brains to the fullest potential, then they will stimulate their brains, growing them, and allowing them to transform into something entirely new, something that allows them to do more and more.
Thus, humans can learn both from Merzenich's animals and the Bonobos. They should understand that the more they push themselves, the more they continue to grapple with problems and attempt to learn the more they will, indeed, be able to learn, change, grow, and become more efficient. This has implications not only for the field of education, but also for philosophy and physiology.
References
Schwartz, Jeffrey M. And Begley, Sharon, (2002) the Mind and the Brain:
Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. New York, NY: HarperCollins
Susan Savage-Rumbaugh on Apes. Retrieved August 17, 2009, from TED:
http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_savage_rumbaugh_on_apes_that_write.html
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