· Numerical recollection tested in Japanese study
· With training humans still trail top ape's abilities
Video: watch memory feats of chimps:
http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/video/video_library/project/project.html James Randerson, science correspondent The Guardian, Tuesday December 4 2007
A chimpanzee named Ayumu takes a memory test at the Primate Research Institute in Kyoto, Japan. Photograph: Tetsuro Matsuzawa/AP
They are better than us at climbing trees, they have a more impressive bite and they would make a formidable opponent in a fight. But the brain is one area where humans have come to regard themselves as superior to the great apes.
No longer. Japanese researchers have found three young chimps that can beat people at a numerical memory task. The performance of the best chimp did not drop off even when it was given a fraction of a second to remember where the numbers were - suggesting it has an ability akin to photographic memory.
Rest of the article @ The Guardian link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/dec/04/animalbehaviour.evolution