PRIMATE STUDY FINDS A SCANDALOUS SIMILARITY TO HUMANS
MONKEYING AROUND
Do you judge strangers? This animal does, too.
TARA YARLAGADDA
13 HOURS AGO
AS OUR CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVES, primates share a lot in common with humans. From their ability to forge social bonds to understanding video games, primates and humans are perhaps more alike than we realize. New research shows we can add one more slightly scandalous similarity to the list.
Primates eavesdrop! And they make snap judgments! Yes, really, it's not just you, Karen.
In research published in the journal Science Advances, scientists reveal marmosets are able to eavesdrop on and evaluate the conversations of other monkeys, expressing an affinity for cooperative individuals over non-cooperative monkeys.
Rahel Brügger is lead author on the study and a researcher in the anthropology department at the University of Zurich. She explains the study adds to the mounting evidence humans are not alone in how much attention we pay to others' actions.
"The study adds to the growing evidence that common marmosets and many animals are not only passive observers of third-party interactions; they are able to understand and evaluate these interactions," she tells Inverse.
A marmoset interacting playfully.Khatawut Chaemchamras / EyeEm/EyeEm/Getty Images
HERE'S THE BACKGROUND — Previous studies examined the outward behavioral responses of primates to the third-party conversations of other monkeys, but that approach has significant limitations, according to this new study.
Relying on behavioral reports doesn't provide the kind of "insider perspective" that gives insight into the mind of the monkey — in other words, how the animals are processing the conversations in their heads.
More:
https://www.inverse.com/science/primate-study-finds-scandalous-similarity-to-humans
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