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Unlike humans, chimpanzees do not alter their behaviour significantly when eyes are gazing down on them.

Credit: DANIEL NETTLE

Daniel Nettle at Newcastle University, UK, and his colleagues observed chimps (Pan troglodytes) consuming shelled peanuts in front of a large image of a chimp (pictured). Although chimps adjust their eating habits in the presence of dominant chimps and recognize such stylized black-and-white cartoons as faces, the animals in these experiments did not hesitate to take peanuts when 'watched' by the image. Humans are more charitable and honest under images of watching eyes than in their absence, and may be unique in their extreme sensitivity to faces, the authors say.

Anim. Behav. 86, 595–602 (2013)