Letters from the September 24, 2005, issue of Science News
By Science News
Monkey see, monkey smell
That monkeys get “weirded out” by seeing themselves in mirrors doesn’t seem unexpected (“Reflections of Primate Minds: Mirror images strike monkeys as special,” SN: 7/23/05, p. 53). Were a familiar or an unfamiliar same-sex capuchin seen, the test subject would be bombarded not just by visual images but also by smells generated from the normal interactions of monkeys. What makes them act strangely is not seeing themselves, which they probably don’t recognize, but seeing an image that has no smell.