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Laughter Also Good Medicine for Orangutans

Study finds empathy, mimicry in primates' grins and chuckles

By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 2, 2008 4:52 PM CST
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(Newser) – Humans aren't the only animals who laugh, according to a new study. Orangutans engage in a primitive form of laughing, the BBC reports—when one exhibits a facial expression such as an open, gaping mouth, and a companion displays the same expression less than half a second later. This sense of empathy and mimicry is a key component of laughter.

The speed with which orangutans imitated certain facial expressions of those around them suggests an involuntary reaction similar to "contagious" laughing. The earliest form of laughter may date back to an ancestor of both apes and humans, say European researchers who studied the play behavior of 25 orangutans aged 2 to 12 years.

Elmo, a four-day-old baby orangutan who was abandoned by his mother, is held by his keeper at an animal nursery at the Indonesian Safari Park (TSI) in Cisarua, west Java, Indonesia, Thursday, July 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Elmo, a four-day-old baby orangutan who was abandoned by his mother, is held by his keeper at an animal nursery at the Indonesian Safari Park (TSI) in Cisarua, west Java, Indonesia, Thursday, July 26,...   (Associated Press)
In this photo released by Zoo Atlanta courtesy of the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Dumadi, an 8-month old infant orangutan is shown at Fort Wayne Children%u2019s Zoo in Fort Wayne, Ind.
In this photo released by Zoo Atlanta courtesy of the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, Dumadi, an 8-month old infant orangutan is shown at Fort Wayne Children%u2019s Zoo in Fort Wayne, Ind.   (Associated Press)
Ah Meng, 46, the oldest Sumatran Orangutan in captivity shows off her teeth Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at the Singapore Zoo which houses their 25 Orangutans, the largest number of the species in captivity in the world. The Singapore Zoo has constantly put in efforts to educate the public about...
Ah Meng, 46, the oldest Sumatran Orangutan in captivity shows off her teeth Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at the Singapore Zoo which houses their 25 Orangutans, the largest number of the species in captivity...   (Associated Press)
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Related links

View the abstract here
Biology Letters

 
apes • orangutans • laughter • primates • laughing • facial expressions

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