humble3d Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 When monkeys lose friend they grieve for hours... It is becoming increasingly clear that monkeys "mourn" their friends, suggesting that grief has deep evolutionary roots When Thomas the orphaned chimpanzee died, his companion Pan appeared to grieve for him. And Pan was not the only one. The other chimps in the group chose to stay around Thomas, even though it was their usual feeding time. Many of them touched Thomas's body. One dominant female even brushed his teeth with grass before his corpse was taken away. Thomas's death was far from the first time apes have been observed apparently grieving their dead. It is simply one of the best documented, as the events were captured on film. Perhaps more surprisingly, two species of monkey – much more distantly related to us than apes – have been observed behaving similarly in the wild. The monkeys seemed to acknowledge, and even mourn, their dead. Because it involves staying out in the open, this "grieving" behaviour could make the monkeys vulnerable to predators. So the question is, why do they do it? Figuring that out could help us understand how grief evolved. --MORE-- http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160616-monkeys-grieve-when-their-friends-die Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straycat19 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 I would say that makes monkeys more human than we are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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