Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, according to a study that compared the laughter of captive apes and young children.
Researchers tickled 13 captive great apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos — and recorded the results. The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them with the newly captured giggles of four young children while they were being tickled and playing at home.
The scientists found that the chuckles of humans and great apes follow similar rhythms, with regular timing between their laughs, a uniting thread that likely reflects their ties to a common ancestor, the researchers said.
“In a way, we are very similar to other great apes because we’ve been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years,” said study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England.
The study adds to a growing body of research into the evolutionary origins of human behavior. Previous research has examined shared traits in communication, play and social bonding across primate species.