MonkeysfacetofaceDISCOVERmagazineoncereportedonacuriouseventinthewoods:agroupofmonkeysappliedmud(泥)totheirfacesinordertokeepawayinsectsbutwhentheyweredonetheyseemedtohavelosttheirabilitytorec

　　Monkeysfacetoface

　　DISCOVERmagazineoncereportedonacuriouseventinthewoods:agroupofmonkeysappliedmud(泥)totheirfacesinordertokeepawayinsectsbutwhentheyweredonetheyseemedtohavelosttheirabilitytorecognizeeachother---twomonkeysthatweresupposedtobefriendsevenstartedfighting.

　　“Facesarereallyimportanttohowmonkeysandapes(猿)cantelloneanotherapart”explainedMichaelAlfaroabiologistatUniversityofCaliforniaLosAngeles(UCLA)totheNewYork-basedInternationalScienceTimes.Thisisquitedifferentfrommanyotheranimalswhichdependheavilyonsmells.

　　Sincefacesplaysuchacrucialpartinthesociallivesofmonkeyscouldthisexplainwhycertainmonkeyspecieshavesuchcolorfulfaceswhileothershavesimplerplainerones?

　　TotestthistheoryagroupofresearchersfromUCLAstudied139monkeyspeciesmainlyfromAsiaandAfricaandanalyzedhundredsofheadshot(头像）photosofthosemonkeysfromtheirdatabases.

　　Itwasfoundthatspeciesthatliveinlargergroupshavefaceswithmorecomplexcolorpatternsthanthosethatliveinsmallergroups.AccordingtoLiveScienceresearchersbelievethatthisisnature’swayofmakingiteasierformonkeystorecognizeeachothersincethoselivinginlargergroupshavetodistinguishbetweenagreaternumberoffaces.

　　Thisisactuallynotthathardtounderstand.Justimagineiftherewere10peoplestandinginfrontofyouallwearingwhiteclothes.Itwouldbemuchmoredifficulttotellthemapartthaniftheyworeclotheswithcolorfulpatterns.Howeveriftherewereonlytwopeoplethatyouhadtoidentifyalackofcolorwouldn’tbemuchofaproblem.

　　Apartfromtheneedtorecognizegroupmembersresearchersfoundthatgeographyandenvironmentalsoaffectmonkeys’facialcolors.Speciesthatliveclosertotheequatorinthickhumid(潮湿的）forestswerefoundtohavedarkerfacesthanthosewholiveindryareasfurtherawayfromtheequator.Thisisbecausedarkerfaceshelpcamouflage(伪装）themonkeysinthewoodssothattheygounnoticedbypredators(捕食者）.

　　【小题1】Wecanlearnfromthearticlethatmonkeysmainlyrecognizeeachotherbytheir__.

　　A．SmellsB．FacialappearancesC．bodyshapes