It is common for humans to be constantly surprised by the different physical and mental capabilities of many animals, such was the case of a chimpanzee who was able to recognize her sister in an image after not seeing her in 26 long years.
The specialized magazine Science announced that Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) discovered something striking, a chimpanzee named Louise, recognized her sister and nephew, whom she had not seen for 26 years. This medium explained that being a bonobo, that is, he spent most of his life in a sanctuary separate from his relatives, he was able to influence this to be possible.
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In addition, the research showed that the closest chimpanzees can remember the faces of friends and family for years and in some cases even decades. That’s right, long-term memory is not something unique to humans. It is worth mentioning that the study considers the possibility that other animals also have good memory capacity.
Science added that NPAS researchers worked with up to 26 bonobo chimpanzees from zoos or sanctuaries located in Europe and Japan.
The methodology of the study was to show chimpanzees photographs of the faces of two apes placed side by side on the screen at the same time for 3 seconds. Raffling images with other strangers.
Note that some were from close friends, enemies or family members who had once lived in the same social groups, but whom they had not seen in years.
Thanks to non-invasive eye-tracking technology, the researchers were able to identify whether the chimpanzees reacted to the images, focusing their gaze when they were shown photographs on a screen.
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What did they base their results on?
NPAS explained that the chimpanzees and bonobos looked about a quarter of a second, 11% to 14% longer, at the faces of apes they used to know and associated with good times, compared to the faces of strangers.
The researchers noticed a trend, they observed that chimpanzees and bonobos viewed images of apes with whom they would have had a pleasant relationship for longer.
It is worth mentioning that they have not been the only animals that have attracted attention for having a good memory, since dolphins, elephants and dogs use sound or smell to recognize another familiar individual. However, they do not have the ability to use visual cues to remember a familiar face after years of not seeing or smelling it.