ABSTRACT
The chimpanzee is the species morphologically closest to humans of all those featured in the authors' experiment. And as for parrots, which have been called “the chimpanzees of the bird world”, they are the only species in the set that is perceived as having the capacity to talk, which is otherwise held to be a distinctively human trait. There is little doubt that as far as common perception is concerned, the parrot and the chimpanzee are those among the species depicted in the experimental narratives which are perceived as the most similar to humans. In the case of the panda, just like in the case of the parrot and the chimpanzee, the effect might have been alike due to a feature other than its perceived closeness to humans, such as its neotenous features, for instance. And the case of the lizard is a different story altogether as it prima facie refutes the speciesist spectator hypothesis.
