Campbell's Monkey. Image: Patricio Robles Gil/Minden Pictures/FLPA from Newscientist.
A new paper from Biology Letters by Lemasson et al. (2009) observed that Campbell's monkeys (Cercopithecus campbelli) pay more attention to the vocalization of older individuals. The authors posit that attention to vocalization of older individuals not only exist in humans but also in non-human primates. Since aging is sometimes synonymous to wisdom in human culture, the authors think that the propensity for younger individuals to pay more attention to the vocalization of elders has a biological basis both in humans and non-human primates. Younger individuals simply listen carefully what the older individuals have to say because they are wiser and more accountable.
Read about the article, Attention to elders' voice in non-human primates on Biology Letters. Also, NewScientist has an article on this too, Respect for elders 'may be universal' in primates.
As some of you might remember, these are the monkeys that are said to understand primitive form of syntax.
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