Mirror self-recognition in nonhuman primates: A phylogenetic approach

Abstract

To explore the phylogenetic origin of mirror self-recognition, the present study examined behaviors toward a mirror during a 30-min session in 12 species of nonhuman primates: prosimians (ring-tailed lemur), New World monkeys (cottontop tamarin, squirrel monkey, and capuchin), Old World monkeys (bonnet macaque, rhesus macaque, and Japanese macaque), gibbons (white-handed gibbon), and great apes (orang-utan, gorilla, bonobo, and chimpanzee). Only the great apes exhibited self-directed behaviors that were thought to be the critical evidence of mirror self-recognition. These results suggest that there is a large difference between great apes and the other nonhuman primates in terms of the capacity for mirror self-recognition. © 1997 Japanese Psychological Association. Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.