Humans can read the emotional expression in dog's faces more accurately than they can chimpanzees

Dogs have lived alongside humans for at least 40,000 years, but proximity doesn't automatically lead to understanding. According to a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the key to understanding dogs largely depends on where you're from. The researchers, led by Federica Amici, a behavioral ecologist, tested 89 adults and 77 children from distinct cultural backgrounds to test their ability to read the facial expression of dogs. Specifically, subjects were taken from Europe, where dogs are considered close family companions that live indoors alongside humans, and Muslim-majority countries where dogs more commonly live outside and aren't necessarily thought of as surrogate family members. Researchers showed the test subjects photographs of dogs, chimpanzees, and humans and asked them to distinguish expressions of anger, happiness, sadness, fear, and neutral expressions.