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Apes can recognize friends they haven’t seen for decades, reveals new research from Johns Hopkins University.
The study, documenting the longest lasting non-human social memories ever recorded, found that apes recognize photos of group mates they haven’t seen for more than 25 years, and respond even more enthusiastically to pictures of their friends.
The research team said their findings, published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscore how human culture evolved from the common ancestors we share with these primates, our closest relatives.
“We tend to think about great apes as quite different from ourselves but we have really seen these animals as possessing cognitive mechanisms that are very similar to our own, including memory,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr Laura Lewis, a biological anthropologist at University of California, Berkeley.
“I think that is what’s so exciting about this study.”
The research team was inspired to pursue the question of how long apes remember old pals through their own experiences working with primates – the sense that the animals recognized them when they’d visit, even if they’d been away for a long time.
“You have the impression that they’re responding like they recognize you and that to them you’re really different from the average zoo guest,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Christopher Krupenye of Johns Hopkins.
“They’re excited to see you again.”
Continued below.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
The study, documenting the longest lasting non-human social memories ever recorded, found that apes recognize photos of group mates they haven’t seen for more than 25 years, and respond even more enthusiastically to pictures of their friends.
The research team said their findings, published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, underscore how human culture evolved from the common ancestors we share with these primates, our closest relatives.
“We tend to think about great apes as quite different from ourselves but we have really seen these animals as possessing cognitive mechanisms that are very similar to our own, including memory,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr Laura Lewis, a biological anthropologist at University of California, Berkeley.
“I think that is what’s so exciting about this study.”
The research team was inspired to pursue the question of how long apes remember old pals through their own experiences working with primates – the sense that the animals recognized them when they’d visit, even if they’d been away for a long time.
“You have the impression that they’re responding like they recognize you and that to them you’re really different from the average zoo guest,” said the study’s senior author Dr. Christopher Krupenye of Johns Hopkins.
“They’re excited to see you again.”
Continued below.
Apes Remember Friends Even Though They’ve Not Seen Them for 25 Years (LOOK)
Apes can recognize friends they haven’t seen for decades, reveals new research from Johns Hopkins University.
www.goodnewsnetwork.org
