- Similarity in apes memory
- Recognition through eye movements
- Primates remember for decades
They can recall another bonobo or chimpanzee for over twenty-five years, according to one study.
Researchers used infrared eye-tracking cameras to document primates’ visual movements in response to contrasting images of chimpanzees or bonobos.
One image depicted an unfamiliar individual, while the other featured a companion bonobo or chimpanzee with the individual who had cohabitated for a minimum of one year.
Recognition was indicated by the primates’ eyes lingering considerably longer on images of individuals with whom they had previously shared a habitat.
They also maintained extended gazes on apes with whom they had higher-quality relationships.
In one instance, Louise, a bonobo, had not seen her sister or nephew in over 26 years. Upon being shown the images by the researchers, her attention was immediately drawn to both of them.
Dr. Laura Lewis of the University of California, Berkeley, remarked, “These animals recognize one another exceptionally well.” Although the precise nature of that representation remains unknown, it is certain to endure for years.
“Rather than demonstrating our differences from other apes, this research demonstrates our similarities with them and theirs with us.”
According to prior research, dolphins can identify each other’s signature calls for twenty years. “That has been the longest-lasting long-term social memory ever discovered in a non-human animal until now,” Dr. Lewis stated.
The results also provide support for the hypothesis that the long-term memory observed in humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos originated from a common progenitor that existed within the period of 6 million to 9 million years ago.
