Why Monkeys and Apes Have Colorful Faces

Nonhuman primates living in large social groups may use facial complexity to tell each other apart.

One face, two face, red face, blue face -- the palette of primate faces is rich and varied, and a new study explains why.

For Old World monkeys and apes, species that live in larger social groups have complex, colorful facial patterns, whereas those that live in smaller groups have simpler, plainer faces, the study researchers found. Facial diversity might make it easier to identify individuals in bigger groups, scientists say.

"Faces are really important to how monkeys and apes can tell one another apart," study researcher Michael Alfaro, an evolutionary biologist at UCLA, said in a statement, adding, "We think the color patterns have to do both with the importance of telling individuals of your own species apart from closely related species and for social communication among members of the same species."

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