Barbary macaques recognise photos of their friends By Victoria
Gill Science and nature reporter, BBC News Scientists filmed the
Barbary macaques' reactions to photographs Adult monkeys
recognise photographs of their friends, according to scientists.
In an experiment, untrained Barbary macaques showed interest in
the photos and spent more time scrutinising pictures of
unfamiliar animals. Juvenile monkeys were fascinated but puzzled
by the photographs. They often tried to greet or touch the
animal in the image. The findings suggest that the primates
learn with age to understand that photos are representations of
faces. As well as adding to our knowledge of their intelligence,
the findings, published in the journal could also help in future
studies of primate behaviour. One of the monkeys grabbed a
picture book and started looking at the pictures Professor Julia
Fischer German Primate Center "Now that we know [that they
spontaneously recognise photographs], we won't be limited to
working in the lab and training