Journal ArticleIndividual recognition is associated with viewpoint-independent face recognition in a species-specific wayTibbetts, Elizabeth A (ORCID:000000025625892X); Weise, Chloe (ORCID:0000000167682390); Pardo-Sanchez, Juanita (ORCID:0000000249520133); Vi, An Na<p>Identifying three-dimensional signals (e.g. faces) can be challenging because the signals appear different when seen from different viewpoints. One simple solution is to always view signals from a particular viewpoint. A more flexible but also more cognitively challenging solution is viewpoint-independent recognition, where receivers can identify signals from multiple viewing angles. Here, we use same/different concept learning to test viewpoint-independent recognition for conspecific and heterospecific faces in two species of<italic toggle='yes'>Polistes</italic>paper wasps that have three-dimensional visual signals.<italic toggle='yes'>P. fuscatus</italic>use conspecific facial patterns for individual recognition, while<italic toggle='yes'>P. dominula</italic>use conspecific facial patterns as a signal of fighting ability. Previous work has shown that<italic toggle='yes'>P. fuscatus</italic>are able to identify novel viewpoints of conspecific faces through extrapolation. Here, we show that<italic toggle='yes'>P. fuscatus</italic>and<italic toggle='yes'>P. dominula</italic>differ in their capacity for viewpoint-independent recognition.<italic toggle='yes'>P. fuscatus</italic>exhibit viewpoint-independent recognition for both<italic toggle='yes'>P. fuscatus</italic>and<italic toggle='yes'>P. dominula</italic>faces. In contrast,<italic toggle='yes'>P. dominula</italic>do not have viewpoint-independent recognition for conspecific or heterospecific faces. These results suggest that viewpoint-independent recognition through extrapolation may be an adaptive strategy to facilitate individual face recognition across a wide range of taxa.</p>Royal Society Publishing2025-10-0110676573Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences29220561471-2954https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.20452134910National Science Foundation