Chimpanzees at a Ugandan sanctuary were shown evidence that directly contradicted a choice they had just made — and rationally changed their mind in response, in what's been widely reported as the first time this kind of evidence-based reasoning has been demonstrated in a non-human animal

Chimpanzees at a Ugandan sanctuary were shown evidence that directly contradicted a choice they had just made — and rationally changed their mind in response, in what's been widely reported as the first time this kind of evidence-based reasoning has been demonstrated in a non-human animal

A chimpanzee at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Uganda hears a rattle from inside one of two closed boxes and picks that box, expecting food. Before it can be opened, a researcher offers a second clue about the other box, something stronger than a rattle: a clear view of what’s actually inside. The chimpanzee switches its choice. It isn’t guessing again, and it isn’t simply following the newest thing it saw. According to the researchers wh…