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Monkey see, monkey do or does he? Can the behavior of non-human
primates their sociality, their intelligence, their communication
really be chalked up to simple mimicry? Emphatically, absolutely:
no. And as famed primatologist Julia Fischer reveals, the human
bias inherent in this oft-uttered adage is our loss, for it is only
through the study of our primate brethren that we may begin to
understand ourselves. An eye-opening blend of storytelling, memoir,
and science, Monkeytalk takes us into the field and the world's
primate labs to investigate the intricacies of primate social mores
through the lens of communication. After first detailing the social
interactions of key species from her fieldwork from baby-wielding
male Barbary macaques, who use infants as social accessories in a
variety of interactions, to aggression among the chacma baboons of
southern Africa and male-male tolerance among the Guinea baboons of
Senegal Fischer explores the role of social living in the rise of
primate intelligence and communication, ultimately asking what the
ways in which other primates communicate can teach us about the
evolution of human language. Funny and fascinating, Fischer's tale
roams from a dinner in the field shared with lionesses to insights
gleaned from Rico, a border collie with an astonishing vocabulary,
but its message is clear: it is humans who are the evolutionary
mimics. The primate heritage visible in our species is far more
striking than the reverse, and it is the monkeys who deserve to be
seen. "The social life of macaques and baboons is a magnificent
opera," Fischer writes. "Allow me now to raise the curtain on it."
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