The Mind of the Chimpanzee

By Timmy Watson in Miscellaneous on Mar 25, 2007 6:30PM

We have a slight obsession with chimpanzees, they are fascinating and mysterious animals and one of the premier scholars on chimpanzee behavior, Jane Goodall, just finished up the first conference on how chimpanzees think. She will be giving a sold out lecture at the Navy Pier later today.

The conference comes at a time when the chimpanzee population in Africa is declining. According to Goodall there were approximately 1 million chimps in 25 countries across the continent. Today, the number have countries have dwindled to 21 with 150,000 chimpanzees. She is optimistic though, saying there are many good people working on the issues that created the declining population.

Now, on the cool part. Goodall describes one instance where a young 7-year old chimp was involved in hero worshiping. The young chimps often latch on to an older male, not necessarily the alpha male. Lisa Parr, PhD, presented her data on facial expression recognition in chimps. Parr explains that one look from a chimp can be extremely complex, down to focusing on their eyes and lips. On the other hand, she indicated, a playful look can be immediately identified.

Now we just want to take advantage of the weather and go see our friends at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Image via Eekers!