Humans Aren’t the Only Primates Who “Share for Sharing’s Sake”

New research calls into question what we know about the evolution of animal social cognition.

By Sofia Quaglia
Nov 24, 2022 4:00 PMNov 28, 2022 2:13 PM
Chimpanzees
A family of chimpanzees from the Kibale Forest in Uganda. (Credit: Kirill Trubitsyn/Shutterstock)

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Fiona plucks a leaf from a branch and brings it close to her mouth. Thinking better of it, she then shows the leaf to her mother, who gazes at it for a short moment before turning away. It’s nothing out of the ordinary for your everyday nature aficionados — except that Fiona and her mother, Sutherland, are two adult chimpanzees residing in the Kibale Forest of Uganda.

Researchers who observed the interaction have dubbed it the first instance of a non-human primate sharing something with a peer simply for the sake of sharing. Their findings, published in PNAS this month, dispel the myth that only humans are capable of grabbing another’s attention solely to share a discovery or remark on an experience.

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