Amalia Bastos first met Kanzi the bonobo in 2023. Bastos was “starstruck,” she recalls: Kanzi was famous for learning how to ...

Little kids hosting make-believe tea parties is a fixture of childhood playtime and long presumed to be exclusively a human ...

Humans aren't the only species that can pretend, a study shows. Scientists offered a bonobo imaginary juice and grapes in a ...

Children love to play pretend, holding imaginary tea parties, educating classrooms of teddies or running their own grocery stores. Now, a new study suggests that such make-believe play is not a ...

In A Nutshell Kanzi, a 43-year-old bonobo, successfully tracked pretend juice poured between empty cups, choosing the correct ...

The ability to imagine — to play pretend — has long been thought to be unique to humans. A new study suggests one of our closest living relatives can do it too.

Past anecdotal observations have hinted that great apes play pretend. But now, experimental research shows that our closest living relatives can keep track of imaginary objects.

A new experiment hints that an ape may be able to play pretend like humans do.

In a new research paper published in Science, cognitive scientists from Johns Hopkins University reported on a bonobo’s ...

Discover how an ape playing tea party teaches us humans are not the only beings with complex mental lives.

The ability to imagine -- to play pretend -- has long been thought to be unique to humans. A new study suggests certain apes may be able to as well.

Apes, like humans, are capable of pretend play, challenging long-held views about how animals think, a new study suggests.