No wool over the eyes: sheep recognize faces
LONDON— A new study shows that sheep have the ability to recognize human faces from photographs on computer screens.
The Cambridge University study published Wednesday also shows that sheep can recognize the faces of their human handlers without any prior training.
It had been known that sheep can recognize familiar faces of other sheep and of humans.
The researchers say this study of the ability of sheep to recognize faces may be useful in research into Huntington’s disease and other disorders that affect mental processing.
Lead scientist Jenny Morton says sheep have advanced face-recognition abilities comparable to those of humans and monkeys.
Among the faces they were trained to recognize were that of former U.S. president Barack Obama and Harry Potter actor Emma Watson.
The research was published in Royal Society: Open Science.