It was long assumed that only humans can distinguish the living from the dead. Renewed interest in this question over the last decade has led several authors to assert that non-human primates are also aware of death. We investigate this issue by comparing the behaviours of monkeys and great apes toward helpless conspecifics, basing our analysis on published reports. We first examine the behaviours of mothers towards the body of their dead offspring. They may carry the corpse for days or more before abandoning it. They groom, inspect and protect it, sometimes allowing group members to explore it, and rare cases of cannibalism have been reported. No significant difference is observed in the way that monkeys and great apes treat the bodies of infants. We then examine responses to collapsed (still able to move and react) and inanimate (unresponsive or dead) conspecifics. Monkeys and great apes guard, care for and inspect their helpless partners, and also manipulate and mobilise them. Through these actions, individuals may inform themselves about the state of their partners, test their responsiveness and/or attempt to rouse them. It appears that only chimpanzees and gorillas show violent action such as display behaviours and the rough treatment of bodies. They can also make distress calls, and periods of “stunned silence” sometimes occur in chimpanzees, indicating that they are experiencing intense emotion. Finally, we argue that while both monkeys and great apes detect body dysfunction through the victims’ inability to wake up and move, only great apes can understand that something serious has happened. The signs of emotional disturbance reported in them indicate that they may believe that inanimate conspecifics have entered a state of “dormancy”, meaning that they are unlikely to regain wakefulness. However, there is no evidence that any non-human primates are aware of mortality.

长期以来，人们一直认为只有人类才能区分生者和死者。过去十年对这个问题的重新关注导致几位作者断言非人类灵长类动物也知道死亡。我们通过比较猴子和类人猿对无助同种的行为来调查这个问题，我们的分析基于已发表的报告。我们首先检查母亲对死去的后代尸体的行为。他们可能会在遗弃尸体之前携带尸体数天或更长时间。他们梳理、检查和保护它，有时允许小组成员探索它，并且有罕见的同类相食的报道。在猴子和类人猿对待婴儿尸体的方式上没有观察到显着差异。然后我们检查对倒塌（仍然能够移动和反应）和无生命（无反应或死亡）同种动物的反应。猴子和类人猿守护、照顾和检查他们无助的伙伴，也操纵和动员他们。通过这些行动，个人可以了解他们伴侣的状态，测试他们的反应能力和/或试图唤醒他们。似乎只有黑猩猩和大猩猩才会表现出暴力行为，例如展示行为和粗暴对待身体。它们也能发出求救信号，黑猩猩有时会出现“震惊的沉默”，这表明它们正在经历强烈的情绪。最后，我们认为虽然猴子和类人猿都通过受害者无法醒来和移动来检测身体功能障碍，只有类人猿才能理解发生了严重的事情。他们报告的情绪障碍迹象表明，他们可能认为无生命的同种已进入“休眠”状态，这意味着他们不太可能重新醒来。然而，没有证据表明任何非人类灵长类动物都知道死亡。