Could you tell us a little bit about what peering is and why you're interested in it?

Peering is a behavior that is close range visual observation of an object.

So it basically means somebody is looking or an ape is looking very, very closely at at something else.

So if you think about when you look closely at maybe when you're threading a needle at something very small and bring your eyes in really, really close to it, that's what peering is.

And it's a behavior we can record in wild apes because it's really, really salient when it's occurring.

So it's challenging in the wild and without video to really track everything that an individual is looking at, just like it is with humans in real time.

But peering gives us a chance to observe things Things that individuals seem to be really, really focused on, and there's been work in orangutans and chimpanzees and several other species of monkeys and apes, showing that peering seems to be associated with social learning.

Is there like a kind of grooming you do that's more intensive for closer bonds or is one grooming session just kind of always look like another?