Chimpanzees have many different facial expressions. From play faces to fear grimaces (often mistaken for a smile, but it’s not), their expressions vary depending on a variety of factors. One of my favorites, though, is affectionately (and scientifically, I’m pretty sure) known as ‘smush face’.
There are many different iterations of smush face, but one thing is consistent- once it’s been noticed, you will hear a caregiver give a little squeal. Smush face is one of the small, amazing part of our days here, but it can be elusive since it can be tricky to capture on camera. You have to be quick and nimble, so you catch it before they move, while also not giving them (or any sneaky bystanders) the opportunity to poke your phone out of your hand.
One version of smush face is when a chimp smushes their lips into the caging to give their caregiver a kiss (safely, of course, on the back of our hands). Here, we see Lucky with a 10/10 smush face:
Another version of smush face is when a chimp reaches maximum comfort by laying down and resting their face on something that causes their capacious lower lip to smush out. This is one of the best versions of smush face, in my opinion, because they just look so darn cozy. Here we have Cy and Terry showing us how it’s done.
To wrap up this ode to smush face, here’s some previous blog photos that show us the best of smush faces. Enjoy. 🙂
