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Cited by 286Primate Behavior and EcologyHumor Studies and ApplicationsLanguage and cultural evolution

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 57 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Reconstructing the Evolution of Laughter in Great Apes and Humans

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Davila Ross, Marina, J Owren, Michael, Zimmermann, Elke·2009·Current Biology
DOI 10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.028
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Abstract

Human emotional expressions, such as laughter, are argued to have their origins in ancestral nonhuman primate displays. To test this hypothesis, the current work examined the acoustics of tickle-induced vocalizations from infant and juvenile orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos, as well as tickle-induced laughter produced by human infants. Resulting acoustic data were then coded as character states and submitted to quantitative phylogenetic analysis. Acoustic outcomes revealed both important similarities and differences among the five species. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees reconstructed from the acoustic data matched the well-established trees based on comparative genetics. Taken together, the results provide strong evidence that tickling-induced laughter is homologous in great apes and humans and support the more general postulation of phylogenetic continuity from nonhuman displays to human emotional expressions. Findings also show that distinctively human laughter characteristics such as predominantly regular, stable voicing and consistently egressive airflow are nonetheless traceable to characteristics of shared ancestors with great apes.

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  1. van Hooff, 1962, Facial expressions in higher primates, Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond., 8, 67

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Metadata

Authors
Davila Ross, M., J Owren, M., & Zimmermann, E.
Affiliations
University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (DE)
ORCID
Zimmermann, Elke
Venue
Current Biology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-07
Volume
19
Issue
13
Pages
1106-1111
ISSN
0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.028
OpenAlex
W2034471684
Cited by
286
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 34 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 9
FWCI
13.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Current Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Humor Studies and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Cultural Studies › Language and cultural evolution
Keywords
great apes, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, infants, vocal acoustics, homology, phylogenetic inference, voicing, primate vocal communication
MeSH terms
Acoustics, Animals, Anthropology, Physical, Behavior, Animal, Biological Evolution, Humans, Infant, Laughter, Phylogeny, Vocalization, Animal, Hominidae

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