Surprise! Sun Bears, Like Dogs and Humans, Mimic Each Other's Faces
Ryan F. Mandelbaum
3/21/19 11:02am
The sun bear, already well-known online for its silly faces, is the first non-primate, non-domesticated animal found to mimic the facial expressions of its playmates. The new research adds complexity to our understanding of the ways animals communicate.
Sun bears are normally solitary animals, and are an elusive, difficult-to-study species. This new work from researchers in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Malaysia demonstrates evidence of a kind of social communication only seen previously in primates and domesticated animals.
“In the sun bear, we have an animal that, in the wild, has strong solitary tendencies, yet is showing social communication that outstrips other species in its complexity,” study first author Derry Taylor from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom told Gizmodo.
The vulnerable sun bear lives in Southeast Asia and is threatened by habitat loss. The researchers chose them as a study subject mainly out of convenience, Taylor explained, as the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center is located near an orangutan rehabilitation center where the researchers also spend time. But they noticed that the bears would show a variety of facial expressions during play, just like the orangutans did, so they asked whether the bears were showing facial mimicry during their own play, too.
More:
https://gizmodo.com/surprise-sun-bears-like-dogs-and-humans-mimic-each-o-1833461223
