Thanksgiving and the Apes

Photo by Alain Houle

If gratitude is not your middle name, you might want to try "going ape" for Thanksgiving.  Apes are known to regularly practice the gratitude of reciprocity.

Dr. Frans de Waal, Director of Living Links at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, is one of the world's foremost scientists.  He has dared to emphasize the empathetic attributes of animals to those who believe that only humans are graced with such qualities.

De Waal did intensive study on the simian equivalent of Thanksgiving dinner.  He wanted to see whether a previous service (grooming) by Chimpanzee A to Chimpanzee B would result in a later show of gratitude (the sharing of food) on Chimpanzee B's part.  What he found was that, even after up to two hours had elapsed, Chimpanzee B appeared to remember the favor and was therefore "more likely than usual" to share food with Chimpanzee A.  De Waal concluded that Chimpanzee B's response was "a psychological mechanism known as 'gratitude' in humans."

Is this proof positive that humans have therefore evolved from the apes?  Not necessarily.  If anything, it may be proof positive that humans are a whole other species when it comes to tableside manners...

Resources

http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Experts/Frans-de-Waal.htm#:~:text=%22Empathy%20has%20long%20been%20considered,long%20evolutionary%20history%20in%20humans.