Study of bears' communication casts doubt on human supremacy over animals
Mammals mimic facial expressions in a way previously thought to be unique to people and great apes
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It is a form of communication so sophisticated it has long been believed only humans and some great apes are capable of it.
Now, new research has found that mimicking facial expressions – widely considered a key pillar in the social success of human beings – is something the world’s smallest bears do too.
It suggests, in terms of communication at least, many other mammals may share abilities previously thought to be almost unique to ourselves – raising questions over the supposed supremacy of humankind.
The findings, in which sun bears were seen to share facial expressions in apparent bonding and shows of solidarity, came during a two-year study by researchers at the University of Portsmouth.
Marina Davila-Ross, who led the project, said: “Mimicking the facial expressions of others in exact ways is one of the pillars of human communication.
“Other primates and dogs are known to mimic each other, but only great apes and humans were previously known to show such complexity in their facial mimicry.
“Because sun bears appear to have facial communication of such complexity and because they have no special evolutionary link to humans, unlike monkeys are apes, nor are they domesticated animals like dogs, we are confident that this more advanced form of mimicry is present in various other species. This, however, needs to be further investigated.”
Researcher Derry Taylor monitored 22 of the animals – native to southeast Asia – in spontaneous social play sessions.
The bears, aged up to 12, were housed in Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Malaysia in which enclosures were large enough to allow bears to choose whether to interact or not.
During hundreds of play bouts, two distinct expressions were coded – one involving a display of the upper incisor teeth, and one without. The bears were most likely to show precise facial mimicry during gentle play.
Mr Taylor said such subtle mimicking could be to help two bears signal that they are ready to play more roughly, or to strengthen social bonds.
He said: “It is widely believed that we only find complex forms of communication in species with complex social systems.
“As sun bears are a largely solitary species, our study of their facial communication questions this belief, because it shows a complex form of facial communication that until now was known only in more social species.”
The results were published on Thursday in the online journal Scientific Reports.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments