Abstract
Facial mimicry is a central feature of human social interactions. Although it has been evidenced in other mammals, no study has yet shown that this phenomenon can reach the level of precision seem in humans and gorillas. Here, we studied the facial complexity of group-housed sun bears, a typically solitary species, with special focus on testing for exact facial mimicry. Our results provided evidence that the bears have the ability to mimic the expressions of their conspecifics and that they do so by matching the exact facial variants they interact with. In addition, the data showed the bears produced the open-mouth faces predominantly when they received the recipient’s attention, suggesting a degree of social sensitivity. Our finding questions the relationship between communicative complexity and social complexity, and suggests the possibility that the capacity for complex facial communication is phylogenetically more widespread than previously thought.
Highlights
Facial mimicry is a central feature of human social interactions
It is known that sun bears feed on an omnivorous diet in tropical rainforests[12], and a study on adult sun bears in Ulu Segama Forest Reserve showed that they seldom participate in social interactions with one another outside of mating contexts despite home ranges overlapping by up to 20%10, indicating a largely solitary lifestyle
As facial mimicry occurs in phylogenetically distanced mammalian species during play and sun bears produce distinct facial variants during social play which is an essential precondition for exact mimicry, our hypothesis is that facial mimicry and exact facial mimicry are present in sun bears during social play
Summary
Facial mimicry is a central feature of human social interactions. it has been evidenced in other mammals, no study has yet shown that this phenomenon can reach the level of precision seem in humans and gorillas. Sun bears use two distinct variants of open-mouth faces during play (personal observations), similar to American black bears[13] and other carnivorans[14]. This observation is intriguing because it raises the possibility that sun bears exhibit complex forms of facial communication comparable to those that have been shown mostly in species with strong social tendencies[6,7,8,9]. As facial mimicry occurs in phylogenetically distanced mammalian species during play (primates[6,7,9]; dogs8) and sun bears produce distinct facial variants during social play which is an essential precondition for exact mimicry, our hypothesis is that facial mimicry and exact facial mimicry are present in sun bears during social play
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