It's official: monkeys are as obsessed with celebrity and pay-per-view porn as the next man.

A team from Duke University Medical Centre, led by neurobiologist Dr Michael Platt, offered 12 thirsty adult male rhesus macaque monkeys a choice between their favourite drink (Juicy Juice cherry juice, ABC News notes), and the chance to view pictures of their pack's dominant, "celebrity" monkey.

Surprisingly, the monkeys eschewed the juice in favour of a bit of celeb-watching, but had to bribed with extra refreshment to look at ordinary "rhesus riffraff". They were also willing to "pay" juice to cop an eyeful of female monkeys' hind quarters, something the team dubbed "Monkey Pay-Per-View".

And on the question of whether Paris Hilton would give up her Juicy Juice for a shufti at Angelina Jolie's hind quarters, the Duke University scientists confirmed that "celebrity" monkeys were just as interested in fellow celebs as the hoi polloi. ®

Bootnote

Thanks to Chris Winpenny for alerting us to this vital scientific research.

Related stories

• Paris Hilton heads for the cryogenic freezer (23 October 2007)
• Fist-sized monkey flies from Florida to New York (8 August 2007)
• (Un)lucky UCLA student cops Paris's old mobile number (9 July 2007)
• Paris: 'stop exposing me' (30 January 2007)
• Paris Hilton laid bare on net (25 January 2007)
• Paris Hilton says no to sex doll honour (4 January 2007)
• UK government puts kybosh on NHS monkeys plan (21 December 2006)
• Celebrity monkey fans wowed by new genus (12 May 2006)
• Cruise and Hilton triumph at Razzies (6 March 2006)
• Paris Hilton burger cavort crashes website (24 May 2005)