A rare close-up of the elusive Golden Langur, one of the only known primates that actively avoids humans
  • 11229 points VivaNOLA

    One of the more obscure David Bowie periods.

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    1221 points ArgyleGhoul

    Is it cold out there in space, Bowie?

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    426 points Crikepire

    Do you use your nipple antennae to transmit DATA BACK TO EARTH

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    171 points ArgyleGhoul

    You creepy old bastard, you

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    150 points exo__exo

    Do you smoke grass in space bowiieeeh? Or do you smoke ASTRO TURF

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    140 points dudebronahbrah

    Do you have one really funky sequined space suit, Bowie

    Or do you have several ch-changes?

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    90 points WxBird

    receiving transmission from Bowie's nipple antennae!

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    66 points SippyMountain

    Do you READ MEH

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    34 points swardshot

    This is Bowie to Bowie, do you hear me out there man?

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    30 points haute_tropique

    This is Bowie back to Bowie, I hear ya loud and clear man!

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    40 points psychorobotics

    Do you read me, Lieutenant Bowie?

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    75 points Ordinary_Ground_7380

    Do you want to borrow my jumper, Bowie?

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    96 points Spudboy42

    That’s pretty freaky, Bowie.

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    52 points fcs_seth

    r/unexpectedflightoftheconchords

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    23 points likeusontweeters

    I fell for that one... wish it was a sub

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    10 points Due-Will-3403

    And today we had a roast

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    53 points NWComedyTroll

    Major Tom?

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    39 points Major_Thom13

    Yes?

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    57 points dreamyduskywing

    This was his Labyrinth period. You can tell by the hair.

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    23 points franksvalli

    Ziggy Stardust and the Spider Monkeys From Mars

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    35 points littlegreenfish

    Willem Dafoe

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    11 points MorningAfterBurrito

    ...in black face

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    5 points nmyi

    ... i can't unsee it now

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    21 points BusHobo

    I got Christopher walken

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    5 points Paulycurveball

    Hahahahh

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    6 points collinwade

    I was thinking this exact same thing

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  • 5681 points Junior_Ad_3301

    Man those eyes

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    1806 points camerachey

    Man eyes

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    1743 points -space-grass-

    What southerners put on their sandwiches.

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    299 points United_Pain

    I just busted out laughing so hard my cat just caught the zoomies 🤣🤣

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    49 points vito1221

    Didn't get it until I read this and went up two posts, reading them in reverse order.

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    48 points JamesTrickington303

    Took me a minute lol

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    18 points Healter-Skelter

    Tbh it’s more reminiscent of an Australian accent.

    Sort of like how “soul feign” = cell phone.

    Ahh crep I got man eyes on me soul feign

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    33 points munchinerara

    🤣🤣🤣🤣

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    32 points WolfsmaulVibes

    probably behaves better than some men too

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    13 points Glass_Ad6100

    And woman too!

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    5 points TiddybraXton333

    Maaan get outta here wit dat

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    281 points justinsayin

    Why does he remind me of David Bowie?

    Like he reincarnated and he's just resolved to it. "Yeah, I deserve this fate."

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    47 points Naughteus_Maximus

    Oh my gosh that's so uncanny to see your comment!! The very first thing I thought - if David Bowie was a monkey. Would be funny if someone made a deep fake video of this fella singing Let's Dance

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    3 points helgatheviking21

    I had this exact same thought: if David Bowie was a monkey

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    20 points vito1221

    Well, he does look like if he could speak, it would be with a proper British accent.

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    14 points Junior_Ad_3301

    https://share.google/images/gCWwAsqI1qeuo3q6y

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    3 points mamadachsie

    YES!!! Everytime I see these monkeys i think they look like David Bowie and I thought I must be crazy. I am SO glad im not the only one!

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    67 points idontknowjeoff

    Sad eyes

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    109 points Past-Rooster-9437

    Quick reminder that humans are really weird in that unlike other apes us looking happy and socialising involves eye contact and grinning.

    Do that to most any other ape and it's a sign of anxiety/excitement and challenge.

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    80 points napoli_reader

    Funny how our social cues are basically old threat displays rebranded as friendliness over a few million years.

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    30 points j48u

    It's definitely interesting. Maybe showing teeth makes sense for our species simply because as we branched off from common ancestors, it's a quick way to show we're not the kind of ape that bites people. I mean, look at the canines on the chimpanzee, our closest living relatives. Those teeth are scary, and chimps are extremely aggressive.

    There could have been a period of time where it was more difficult to tell us apart from them or another species that isn't around anymore but also had threatening teeth.

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    29 points Past-Rooster-9437

    Funny thing is there's one hypothesis that the "anxious smile" or "anxious laugh" is an atavistic behaviour hearkening back to the "grinning out of fear" response.

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    57 points Unknown_Outlander

    They don't even look sad to me, they looked bored af but I also don't even think it would use the same muscles as a human for all emotions. People misread animals all the time.

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    12 points chadskie

    Real eyes, realize, real lies

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    21 points 021fluff5

    So expressive! What part of ‘actively avoids humans’ do you idiots not understand? I’m blocking your number.

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    70 points Virga-Zoltraak

    Thoseeyeshaveseenalotoflovesbuttheyrenevergonnaseeanotheronelikeihadwithyou

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    21 points AlternatiMantid

    It's jimmy's brother! The guy with the beautiful voice!

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    40 points northdakotanowhere

    Its that white sclera that makes them look so human

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    18 points [deleted]

    [deleted]

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    26 points northdakotanowhere

    That you can easily observe because of the white sclera

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    5 points vito1221

    Thing looks more human than any other primate I've seen because of that white in the eyes. Never thought about that until mentioned here.

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    3 points northdakotanowhere

    It allows for better communication between the group.

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    13 points Borge_Luis_Jorges

    He doesn't know anyone in the party and is estimating the chances of making his way to the front door without anyone noticing.

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    17 points BeanBurritoJr

    There's intelligence behind those eyes. Like not the animal kind...

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  • 4725 points YawnKK

    If i was that cool I'd avoid humans too

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    1789 points timberpoint_river

    he’s got that expression of someone who’s seen enough of humanity to make a very permanent decision, can’t even blame him at this point

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    658 points Eliza_Tornwell

    It's wild how his face lands somewhere between deep disappointment and total peace, like he accepted that humans are a lost cause and moved on to better hobbies.

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    122 points Healter-Skelter

    It’s captivating to me how human they are. Evolution obviously but sometimes a reminder can be potent. It’s like I can see all of humanity in it’s eyes.

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    253 points IveDunGoofedUp

    "Those fuckers evolved and now they spend all doing looking at spreadsheet and sending emails. Peace out bro, I'm going to find myself another banana"

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    47 points llDS2ll

    I miss the days when that was the definition of shit that sucks a lot

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    22 points kiffmet

    The issues we had back then were a "luxury" compared to now.

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    19 points kiffmet

    Let's get drunk on fermented fruits :D

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    12 points Logical_Flounder6455

    So the expression most of wear daily then?

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  • 2177 points joanmcbitch

    Got that 'I know what you fucking humans did' face.

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    205 points 67yoloswag

    I wonder what we did to them there must be a reason lmao

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    186 points Full_Application491

    The post is actually crap. The majority of primates in the wild avoid humans, the few that don't it's because they have adapted to living near people because of food opportunities.

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    32 points 67yoloswag

    Probably a bot post then

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    165 points amacke03335

    We genocided every other species in our genus. That's why the Uncanny Valley feeling is so strong in us. It's unsettling to see something almost human, but not quite. It triggers fight or flight. Its a left over because it got selected for in our ancestors because it was a succesful strategy to kill and steal from our cousins. We were weapon wielding, fire carrying, proto-religous, often hungry gangs of apes that can talk and organize better than our cousins. We hunted the mega fauna of the last ice age to extinction. All of our cousins are extinct. That seems more than a coincidence. Which do you think was easier: trying to take down a 12 ton beast with stone tipped spears and atalatls? Or Raiding a Neanderthal encampment at night? I think I know what most men then and even know would pick in a world that harsh. 

    Natural selection only let that monkey have a face that Human because it avoided us. The ones that didn't are all gone. That face is a genetic relic that knows what we are capable of.  

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    59 points dshagi

    This is fascinating. I've never heard this theory before. Do you have any reading material to recommend about this topic?

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    147 points Full_Application491

    No, because he's talking almost exclusively out of his ass

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    77 points What_a_fat_one

    Natural selection only let that monkey have a face that Human because it avoided us. The ones that didn't are all gone. That face is a genetic relic that knows what we are capable of.

    Yeah this is some Michael Bay shit

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    29 points skotcgfl

    It was a fun read though. I imagined a Michael Crichton character spewing all that, and gave it a similar level of credence.

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    35 points chickenpolitik

    Yep. Keep in mind we interbred with neanderthals for example, we couldn't have felt too much uncanny-valley-ness towards them to want to fuck them...

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    22 points JamesTrickington303

    Ask most funeral home directors why they only hire female morticians…

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    19 points goddessdragonness

    To be fair tho, humans will fuck anything that moves. Like sheep and couches (which don’t move actually)…

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    24 points amacke03335

    I couldn't say I have read this hypothesis laid out in any one book or journal. Its something I've come to think from my understanding of human nature, archeology, anthropology, history, and neuroscience. I doubt it's an entirely novel idea tho. I'm sure there's anthropologits or evolutionary biologists that have come to the same conclusion so I'm sure there's literature out there. If not, bully for me I guess lol. I can recommend some books that started me on this way of thinking.

    The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins Consilience by E.O. Wilson The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond  Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond The Blank Slate by Stephan Pinkner 

    Those are all pretty popular books tho so you might have read them already lol. If not, then you should!

    I'd also recommend PBS Eons on YouTube. They have some great videos on prehistory that are sourced and could be a good jumping off point looking for scholarly articles. 

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    4 points Past-Rooster-9437

    See the idea I'd heard is that uncanny valley's more to do with stuff like corpses. Things that are either inherently dangerous (disease) or indicate danger (predator nearby).

    It could, however, also just be a bizarre function of the way our brains work that wasn't detrimental, or at least not detrimental enough to cause problems and be selected against.

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    15 points Alict

    It's actually eminently possible that we fucked neanderthals to extinction: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4005592/

    What's usually called the "uncanny valley" isn't really a scientific phenomenon, and is most like a whole host of interrelated things that's also inflected by cultural context. One of the leading theories for it is simply that our brains get upset when things aren't clearly categorizable: https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.ezp1.lib.umn.edu/document/4415111

    The idea that nature is just about murdering everyone all the time is both ascientific and alpha male bs.

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    14 points Past-Rooster-9437

    We genocided every other species in our genus

    Homo neanderthalensis wasn't genocided, that one we incorporated into ourselves. Also they probably got more harmed by climate change resulting in the megafauna they relied on, being so large-bodied and having a comparatively larger caloric need, all migrating/dying out, especially when combined with the predatory pressure from neanderthals themselves and the encroaching Homo sapiens.

    There's also natural competition. If Homo sapiens was better adapted to the ecological niche of omnivorous social intelligent predator than other humans we didn't necessarily genocide them. Just steadily outcompeted them without any real malice. No more a genocide than a new species entering an area and outcompeting the old.

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    10 points WarriorPasta

    Most humans have some Neanderthal DNA, we‘re pretty damn similar to them. Neanderthals showed proto-religion, likely made cave paintings and other early art, and likely could make a similar amount of vocalizations to early humans. We aren’t better than them, we just had more factors that helped us survive and reproduce better in the environment at the time. Natural selection is just funky like that.

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    4 points iambecomesoil

    We were weapon wielding, fire carrying, proto-religous, often hungry gangs of apes that can talk and organize better than our cousins.

    Species long gone were the first we have evidence of control of fire which came after other tool use, including weapons.

    Long before homo sapiens and neanderthals. It wasn't modern homo sapiens that came up with any of it.

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    9 points Swirlatic

    Or perhaps we just absorbed them and outbred them? Modern humans still have quite a bit of DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovians- homo sapiens always had a much higher birth rates and fertility, so it’s natural we’d be the ones with the most DNA sticking around

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    3 points JamesTrickington303

    Dead people also trigger that uncanny valley thing, and that’s bred into us because avoiding dead people is generally good from a disease standpoint.

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    12 points lord_fairfax

    His ancestors saw what we did to the Neanderthals.

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    11 points munchinerara

    Bigfoot also avoids humans.

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  • 1153 points midnightplumcat

    Somehow this is the most relatable primate. Stares into the middle distance, deeply tired, structuring its entire lifestyle around not having to interact with us more than necessary.

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    10 points Elliot_Moose

    I mean same

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  • 1943 points beastiemonman

    That face is so human like. Clearly we are part of the same family.

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    1219 points BruiserTom

    He looks like Clint Eastwood in blackface.

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    373 points MizzMann

    That's clearly Tilda Swinton.

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    36 points MermaidsHaveCloacas

    Everything is Tilda Swinton

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    48 points beastiemonman

    I can't unsee that one as well now.

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    27 points beastiemonman

    That made me laugh way too much. I wish I wasn't someone who can't make images in their mind so I could keep giggling about it days after this post. :-)

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    12 points turbanned_athiest

    Keep giggling, it's good for you

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    5 points beaker90

    Save the photo to your phone so you can come back to it whenever you want!

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    3 points doubtfullfreckles

    I can't see things in my mind either. But simply thinking about things like this makes me laugh

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    12 points LUNAVESSEL

    💀

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    8 points VintageLunchMeat

    Your lips to Apollo's ears.

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    70 points CaterpillarBroad6083

    That face is so human like. Clearly we are part of the same family order.

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    28 points yubacore

    That face is so human like. Clearly we are part of the same family order clade.

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    11 points CaterpillarBroad6083

    Even more pedantic, I like it.

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    31 points RedDiamond6

    Dude, when I was in Thailand, I was standing next to this monkey and checking out his hands. So human-like and was trippy as hell lol 😵‍💫

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    8 points feriziD

    I was going to make a comment about not family but Parvorder and now my head keeps singing

    “We. Aren’t. Faaaaaamilyyyy. But I’ve got my Catarrhini with me”

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    6 points CosmicEgg__

    Technically we are not from the same family

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    19 points Wratheon_Senpai

    Yeah, we're from the same order though and still share a common ancestor. We're just further apart from these guys genetically than we are from Hominidae (which is our family).

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    7 points Creativenoodles

    I guarantee my ex mother in law is from the same family

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    6 points CosmicEgg__

    Not cool for the golden langurs dude

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  • 310 points gultch2019

    Im a primate that avoids humans

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    39 points Eagle_Chick

    I also wanted to add.. All kinds of primates would avoid humans, we just encroached on their territory!

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  • 608 points TheSuggi

    Definitely highly intelligent if they know to avoid humans.

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    133 points Affectionate-Wait121

    They are so intelligent that they do not show intelligence, lest they be put to work.

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    27 points Minute_Guarantee5949

    I would

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    12 points AfterImageEclipse

    That's how evolution works. The ones who did not avoid human died and can't reproduce. 🙊🙉

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  • 273 points Several-Hat-1944

    That is fascinating to view! The familiarities are uncanny, like I'm not supposed to witness. Where on earth are these Langur's populated?

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    170 points Alternative_Chair517

    In a small region of the state of Assam in India and neighbouring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianwildlifeHub/s/5EgdSq9QCe

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    44 points Several-Hat-1944

    Thank you for the intel...☕

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    83 points miianwilson

    This makes it sound like you’re on a mission to hunt them to extinction or something

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    21 points Several-Hat-1944

    Not a chance in hell. Those primates are glorious!

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    49 points generalwalrus

    So you're going to fuck them then. Got it.

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    16 points Successful-Peach-764

    Why you gotta expose him like that? Love is love...

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    21 points HiImDan

    Do not the primates

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  • 43 points Bitter_Arbiter

    There is an uncanny level of intelligence and sentience behind those eyes

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    11 points Johnnyocean

    I was kinda waiting for it to start talking in english.

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  • 97 points Alternative_Chair517

    Here is a recent video of Golden Langurs in their natural habitat:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianwildlifeHub/s/5EgdSq9QCe

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    10 points tarbet

    Their fur is so snuggly looking.

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    15 points SuperLowAmbitions

    “Highly endangered” well well, I guess we can see why they avoid humans… 😭

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  • 25 points Spooky_Doo1987

    What is it about its face that triggers the uncanny valley? The eyes? The shape of the face? I can't seem to point out what it is but it does have that effect on me

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  • 70 points Heisenberg13579

    TIL I'm a golden langur

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    13 points Twizlex

    I was going to make this exact comment

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  • 89 points fe1337

    this might indeed be a very smart decision!

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  • 37 points Own_Acanthisitta5708

    Hugh Jackman

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    7 points Deutscher51

    Amazing range that guy.

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  • 81 points Zealousideal-Sail893

    Why terrifying?

    What a privilege to be so close to something so beautiful and clever... 

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  • 42 points iiooiooi

    one of the only known primates that actively avoids humans

    Smart monkey.

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    7 points Gavinator10000

    They probably find us uncanny lol

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  • 29 points BonesCrunchUnder

    this bro look like he gon evolve tomorrow and be emotionally stable while judging me and teaching me about wisdom of life.

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  • 66 points Venom_Iam

    I'm sorry but this is not terrifying at all.

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    29 points 67yoloswag

    youre not shivering your timbers over this monkey?

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  • 10 points lowery007

    For some reason, it makes me think of Michael Jackson

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    8 points 67yoloswag

    héé héé

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  • 16 points Paulycurveball

    As being a human for as long as I have I fully understand.

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  • 8 points thesupercoolmaniac

    aka: the smartest monkey

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  • 4 points KellarW

    Do we really know that it’s the only primate that actively avoids humans? It could be the second best one at this.

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  • 5 points Frenzy_MacKenzie

    I don't blame him one bit.

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  • 11 points [deleted]

    [removed]

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  • 5 points Overdayoutdeath

    I hate that it looks just like miles Davis.

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  • 4 points MrsJBaggins

    Smart primate

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    3 points nasanchez1

    He does look very wise. Like he doesn't even speak. He just listens.

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  • 13 points nasty_drank

    Super cool but terrifying how?

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  • 13 points Ochemata

    Avoid humans or avoids large animals in general? 

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  • 4 points Kettle_Whistle_

    Smartest life form

    Well, them & the porpoises who huff puffer fish to get f-ed up high…

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  • 4 points LunaTheLesbianFurry

    he looks like he knows something we dont

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  • 3 points myuniverseisyours

    Chico, the eyes, they never lie

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  • 5 points Skyrave94

    He knows something we don't.

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  • 3 points JOATWorks

    Do they avoid us because they get uncanny valley vibes?

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  • 5 points pugfugliest

    Almost all wild animals avoid humans...

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  • 4 points fayfaycatlover2021

    They probably avoid us because they know what's up. Those don't look like other monkeys or Apes. I think they got more going on behind those eyes and people give him credit for

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  • 6 points Icantgoonillgoonn

    All primates avoid humans

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  • 6 points villadilla26

    Miles Davis

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  • 5 points Tramonto83

    It has the face of someone who WANTED to avoid humans

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  • 6 points alejo2222

    That dude is one evolution away from the mortgage.

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  • 3 points ninhibited

    So basically he's having the worst day of his life. This video is intriguing but always makes me sad.

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  • 3 points jfk_47

    I would also avoid us.

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  • 3 points gluepet2074

    Willem Dafoe is in everything these days

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  • 3 points LinkGoesHIYAAA

    So the smartest primate, then?

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  • 3 points ParaDuckssss

    I too actively avoids human maybe I am a Golden Langur??

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  • 3 points AlternativePhoto3799

    Those eyes are showing some serious intellegence - wow that’s crazy. (Cool & fascinating but crazy)

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  • 3 points swingsetlife

    I don't care what y'all say, that's just David Bowie.

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  • 3 points Krmsyn

    Smart

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  • 3 points NoHeight6815

    Smart animal, humans can suck!

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  • 3 points LiluLay

    Oh so they’re the only truly smart primates then?

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  • 3 points TangibleBelly

    Cool. His sclera is white, as opposed to chimps for example

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  • 3 points SamanthaJaneyCake

    Actively avoids humans

    They know what we did

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  • 3 points Traditional-Sir-1104

    Almost human face

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  • 3 points SassyTheSkydragon

    Might suffer the uncanny valley effect due to how humanlike its face looks

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  • 3 points Lovethebonesofher

    He looks like he knows what twats we are, and that’s why they avoid us

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  • 3 points JacksonSpike

    They look like they know what we do

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  • 3 points Reverse_Side_1

    Me looking at this while David Bowie playing... I see the essence tbf

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  • 3 points DaTexasTickler

    I hope aliens look this cool. He looks like he can formulate well thought out plans and execute them flawlessly lol I feel like he's about to start speaking some foreign language. He just looks so wise to me for some reason 😂

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  • 3 points Pantxo2112

    We are the uncanny valley

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  • 3 points mohitmojito

    Those eyes have seen human becoming human

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  • 3 points Final_Candidate_7603

    Meh, I’m a primate and also actively avoid humans. Maybe this isn’t the flex the Golden Langur thinks it is…

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  • 3 points Ohwaithuhimconfused

    god it has perfect human eyes

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  • 6 points rouxthless

    That’s a tiny little person and you can’t tell me otherwise.

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  • 5 points Organic_Ad_1930

    Can you blame them? We are a fucking mess

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  • 5 points [deleted]

    Ahhhh I’m so scared of the beautiful animal ahhhhhhh it’s terrifying

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  • 3 points MagusPSU

    Oddly terrifying? More like oddly relatable.

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  • 4 points Sefalosha

    It can read minds. Humans are some huge pervs

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  • 3 points axxond

    Why does it look like David Bowie

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  • 2 points LOERMaster

    It’s like one of those awkward random meetups between you and your cousin who’ve you never met before where you end up parting quickly because you really have nothing to say to each other.

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  • 2 points DonkeyFordhater

    I saw him in Cork

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  • 2 points alecesne

    I wonder if we give them uncanny valley discomfort?

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  • 2 points boozyboss91

    Looks like the forest spirit from Princess Mononoke.

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