Monkeys have a basic intuition for geometry, study suggests

Monkeys use some of the same basic mental strategies as people do to perceive abstract relationships between shapes, a new study suggests.

The findings challenge the idea that humans crossed a sharp evolutionary divide when they learned to recognize geometric properties like symmetry, parallel lines and right angles, the researchers say.

"While humans do come up with geometric descriptions that are more abstract than what nonhumans can do, there's still some overlap, some similarity in the kinds of geometric intuitions you see in humans and those of non-primates," study co-author Jessica Cantlon, a professor of developmental neuroscience and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, told Live Science. "So there's a thread of continuity that runs through geometric reasoning between humans and nonhumans."

The research, published July 20 in the journal PNAS, adds to a long-standing scientifi...