Apes vs Humans: Social Traditions – Monday 14th November 2016, 7pm

If you invited a chimpanzee or a monkey to a dinner party would he know how to behave? Probably not, but whilst greeting and welcoming guests, sharing food and solving problems are usually seen as social traditions unique to humans, new research shows that this is not the case. Apes and monkeys share similar customs.

By studying apes in zoos and in the wild, and looking at how children learn in schools Dr Lara Wood (Abertay University), has observed how each group learns and how mimicking plays a role in learning social habits.

On the 14th November 2016, Lara, who has worked at the Living Links research centre at Edinburgh Zoo, gave a fascinating and accessible talk on , her research that has changed the way we think about ape, monkey and human culture.

This was the final Cafe Science event for 2016 and it felt so good to end the year on such a high note. Thanks Lara!

We’re back on the 9th January with a talk on skin conditions titled Why do People get Spots? with Prof Maurice van Steensel. See you then.