

The photo of the Old World monkey, most likely a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), was shot by 31-year-old Avinash Lodhi from Jabalpur in India.



"This picture is very close to my heart because throughout my entire photography career I have never seen anything like this,” said Avinash. "It was so quick I didn't even know what was happening when I took the picture but as soon as I confirmed the image I was silent for an hour."



"This moment is rare, especially with animals."



It’s undoubtedly a stunning photograph, although it’s always important not to anthropomorphize animal behavior too heavily. Take, for example, the photograph of the kangaroo appearing to mourn its dead partner last year. As wildlife experts pointed out, this behavior was actually something called “mate guarding”, a violent part of kangaroos' hyper-aggressive courtship practices.



Of course, these little monkeys wouldn’t be doing anything so sinister...

This Article is fully taken from: I Fucking Love Science