https://www.openculture.com/2022/01/animals-laugh-too-ucla-study-finds-laughter-in-65-species-from-rats-to-cows.html * Online Courses * Certificates * Degrees & Mini-Degrees * Audio Books * Movies * Podcasts * K-12 * eBooks * Languages * Donate * + + + + * [ ] [] * [] Animals Laugh Too: UCLA Study Finds Laughter in 65 Species, from Rats to Cows in Biology | January 5th, 2022 Leave a Comment FacebookTwitterReddit SubscribeGoogleWhatsappPinterestDiggLinkedinStumbleuponVkPrint DeliciousBufferPocketXingTumblrMailYummlyTelegramFlipboard [INS::INS] Every pet owner knows that animals love to play, but laughter seems reserved for humans, a few apes, and maybe a few birds good at mimicking humans and apes. As it turns out, according to a new article published in the journal Bioacoustics, laughter has been "documented in at least 65 species," Jessica Wolf writes at UCLA Newsroom. "That list includes a variety of primates, domestic cows and dogs, foxes, seals, and mongooses, as well as three bird species, including parakeets and Australian magpies." This is a far cry from just a few years ago when apes and rats were the "only known animals to get the giggles," as Liz Langley wrote at National Geographic in 2015. Yes, rats laugh. How do scientists know this? They tickle them, of course, as you can see in the video just above. (Rat tickling, it turns out, is good for the animals' well being.) The purpose of this experiment was to better understand human touch -- and tickling, says study author Michael Brecht, "is one of the most poorly understood forms of touch." [lazy_placeholder][lazy_placeholder] [7176_New-Years-Campaign_post-6-small] Laughter, on the other hand, seems somewhat better understood, even among species separated from us by tens of millions of years of evolution. In their recent article, UCLA primatologist Sasha Winkler and UCLA professor of communication Greg Bryant describe how "play vocalizations" signal non-aggression during roughhousing. As Winkler puts it: When we laugh, we are often providing information to others that we are having fun and also inviting others to join. Some scholars have suggested that this kind of vocal behavior is shared across many animals who play, and as such, laughter is our human version of an evolutionarily old vocal play signal. Generally, humans are unlikely to recognize animal laughter as such or even perceive it at all. "Our review indicates that vocal play signals are usually inconspicuous," the authors write. Rats, for example, make "ultrasonic vocalizations" beyond the range of human hearing. The play vocalizations of chimpanzees, on the other hand, are much more similar to human laughter, "although there are some differences," Winkler notes in an interview. "Like, they vocalize in both the in-breath and out breath." Why study animal laughter? Beyond the inherent interest of the topic -- an especially joyful one for scientific researchers -- there's the serious business of understanding how "human social complexity allowed laughter to evolve from a play-specific vocalization into a sophisticated pragmatic signal," as Winkler and Bryant write. We use laughter to signal all kinds of intentions, not all of them playful. But no matter how many uses humans find for the vocal signal, we can see in this new review article how deeply non-aggressive play is embedded throughout the animal world and in our evolutionary history. Read "Play vocalisations and human laughter: a comparative review" here. Related Content: Eye of the Pangolin: The Search for an Animal on the Edge How Sounds Are Faked For Nature Documentaries: Meet the Artists Who Create the Sounds of Fish, Spiders, Orangutans, Mushrooms & More Download Animals and Ethics 101: Thinking Critically About Animal Rights (Free) Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness FacebookTwitterReddit SubscribeGoogleWhatsappPinterestDiggLinkedinStumbleuponVkPrint DeliciousBufferPocketXingTumblrMailYummlyTelegramFlipboard by Josh Jones | Permalink | Comments (0) | Support Open Culture We're hoping to rely on our loyal readers rather than erratic ads. To support Open Culture's educational mission, please consider making a donation. We accept PayPal, Venmo (@openculture), Patreon and Crypto! Please find all options here. We thank you! [lazy_placeholder] [btn_donate_cc_147x4] [INS::INS] Comments (0) Be the first to comment. Leave a Reply Name (required) [ ] Email (required) [ ] Message [ ] [Submit] Click here to cancel reply. Wordpress Hashcash needs javascript to work, but your browser has javascript disabled. Your comment will be queued in Akismet! [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] * Essentials + 1,700 Free Online Courses + 200 Online Certificate Programs + 100+ Online Degree & Mini-Degree Programs + 1,150 Free Movies + 1,000 Free Audio Books + 150+ Best Podcasts + 800 Free eBooks + 200 Free Textbooks + 300 Free Language Lessons + 150 Free Business Courses + Free K-12 Education + Get Our Daily Email * Support Us We're hoping to rely on loyal readers, rather than erratic ads. Please click the Donate button and support Open Culture. You can use Paypal, Venmo, Patreon, even Crypto! We thank you! [lazy_placeholder][btn_donate_cc_147x4] * Free Courses + Art & Art History + Astronomy + Biology + Business + Chemistry + Classics/Ancient World + Computer Science + Data Science + Economics + Engineering + Environment + History + Literature + Math + Philosophy + Physics + Political Science + Psychology + Religion + Writing & Journalism + All 1500 Free Courses + 1000+ MOOCs & Certificate Courses * [INS::INS] * Free Movies + 1150 Free Movies Online + Free Film Noir + Silent Films + Documentaries + Martial Arts/Kung Fu + Animations + Free Hitchcock Films + Free Charlie Chaplin + Free John Wayne Movies + Free Tarkovsky Films + Free Dziga Vertov + Free Oscar Winners * Free Language Lessons + Arabic + Chinese + English + French + German + Italian + Russian + Spanish + All Languages * Free eBooks + 700 Free eBooks + Free Philosophy eBooks + The Harvard Classics + Philip K. Dick Stories + Neil Gaiman Stories + David Foster Wallace Stories & Essays + Hemingway Stories + Great Gatsby & Other Fitzgerald Novels + HP Lovecraft + Edgar Allan Poe + Free Alice Munro Stories + Jennifer Egan Stories + George Saunders Stories + Hunter S. Thompson Essays + Joan Didion Essays + Gabriel Garcia Marquez Stories + David Sedaris Stories + Stephen King + Chomsky + Golden Age Comics + Free Books by UC Press + Life Changing Books * Free Audio Books + 700 Free Audio Books + Free Audio Books: Fiction + Free Audio Books: Poetry + Free Audio Books: Non-Fiction * Free Textbooks + 200 Free Textbooks + Free Physics Textbooks + Free Computer Science Textbooks + Free Math Textbooks * K-12 Resources + Free Books + Free Video Lessons + Web Resources by Subject + Free Language Lessons + Quality YouTube Channels + Teacher Resources + Test Prep + All Free Kids Resources * Free Art & Images + All Art Images & Books + The Met + The Getty + The Rijksmuseum + Smithsonian + The Guggenheim + The Tate + The National Gallery + The Whitney + LA County Museum + Stanford University + British Library + Google Art Project + French Revolution + Getty Images + Guggenheim Art Books + Met Art Books + Getty Art Books + New York Public Library Maps + Museum of New Zealand + Street Art + Smarthistory + Rembrandt + Van Gogh + Coloring Books * Free Music + All Bach Organ Works + All of Bach + 80,000 Classical Music Scores + Free Classical Music + Live Classical Music + 9,000 Grateful Dead Concerts + Alan Lomax Blues & Folk Archive * Writing Tips + Hemingway + Fitzgerald + Stephen King + Ray Bradbury + William Zinsser + Kurt Vonnegut + Toni Morrison + Edgar Allan Poe + Margaret Atwood + David Ogilvy + Steinbeck + Billy Wilder * Archive + All posts by date * Categories + Amazon Kindle + Animation + Apple + Architecture + Archives + Art + Astronomy + Audio Books + Beat & Tweets + Biology + Books + Business + Chemistry + Coloring Books + Comedy + Comics/Cartoons + Computer Science + Creativity + Current Affairs + Dance + Data + Deals + Design + e-books + Economics + Education + English Language + Entrepreneurship + Environment + Fashion + Film + Finance + Food & Drink + Games + Gender + Google + Graduation Speech + Harvard + Health + History + How to Learn for Free + Internet Archive + iPad + iPhone + Jazz + K-12 + Language + Language Lessons + Law + Letters + Libraries + Life + Literature + Magazines + Maps + Math + Media + MIT + MOOCs + Most Popular + Museums + Music + Nature + Neuroscience + Online Courses + Opera + Philosophy + Photography + Physics + Podcasts + Poetry + Politics + Pretty Much Pop + Productivity + Psychology + Radio + Random + Religion + Sci Fi + Science + Software + Sports + Stanford + Technology + TED Talks + Television + Theatre + Travel + Twitter + UC Berkeley + Uncategorized + Video - Arts & Culture + Video - Politics/Society + Video - Science + Video Games + Web/Tech + Wikipedia + Writing + Yale + YouTube * [INS::INS] * Great Lectures + Michel Foucault + Sun Ra at UC Berkeley + Richard Feynman + Joseph Campbell + Carl Sagan + Margaret Atwood + Jorge Luis Borges + Leonard Bernstein + Richard Dawkins + Buckminster Fuller + Walter Kaufmann on Existentialism + Jacques Lacan + Roland Barthes + Nobel Lectures by Writers + Toni Morrison + Bertrand Russell + Oxford Philosophy Lectures * FREE UPDATES! GET OUR DAILY EMAIL Get the best cultural and educational resources on the web curated for you in a daily email. We never spam. Unsubscribe at any time. [Enter Your Email ] [Sign Me Up!] FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA + + + + * About Us [lazy_place][open-cultu] Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media. We find the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & educational videos you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between. Advertise With Us * Great Recordings + T.S. Eliot Reads Waste Land + Sylvia Plath - Ariel + Joyce Reads Ulysses + Joyce - Finnegans Wake + Patti Smith Reads Virginia Woolf + Albert Einstein + Charles Bukowski + Bill Murray + Hemingway + Fitzgerald Reads Shakespeare + William Faulkner + Flannery O'Connor + Tolkien - The Hobbit + Allen Ginsberg - Howl + W.B Yeats + Ezra Pound + Dylan Thomas + Anne Sexton + John Cheever + David Foster Wallace * Book Lists By + Neil deGrasse Tyson + Ernest Hemingway + F. Scott Fitzgerald + Allen Ginsberg + Patti Smith + Brian Eno + Henry Miller + Christopher Hitchens + Joseph Brodsky + W.H. Auden + Donald Barthelme + Carl Sagan + David Bowie + Samuel Beckett + Art Garfunkel + Marilyn Monroe + Jorge Luis Borges + Picks by Female Creatives * * Syllabi + WH Auden + David Foster Wallace + Donald Barthelme + Allen Ginsberg + Zadie Smith & Gary Shteyngart + Spike Lee + Lynda Barry + Junot Diaz * Favorite Movies + Kubrick + Kurosawa's 100 + Tarantino + Scorsese + Tarkovsky + David Lynch + Werner Herzog + Woody Allen + Wes Anderson + Luis Bunuel + Roger Ebert + Susan Sontag + Scorsese Foreign Films + Philosophy Films * Archives + January 2022 + December 2021 + November 2021 + October 2021 + September 2021 + August 2021 + July 2021 + June 2021 + May 2021 + April 2021 + March 2021 + February 2021 + January 2021 + December 2020 + November 2020 + October 2020 + September 2020 + August 2020 + July 2020 + June 2020 + May 2020 + April 2020 + March 2020 + February 2020 + January 2020 + December 2019 + November 2019 + October 2019 + September 2019 + August 2019 + July 2019 + June 2019 + May 2019 + April 2019 + March 2019 + February 2019 + January 2019 + December 2018 + November 2018 + October 2018 + September 2018 + August 2018 + July 2018 + June 2018 + May 2018 + April 2018 + March 2018 + February 2018 + January 2018 + December 2017 + November 2017 + October 2017 + September 2017 + August 2017 + July 2017 + June 2017 + May 2017 + April 2017 + March 2017 + February 2017 + January 2017 + December 2016 + November 2016 + October 2016 + September 2016 + August 2016 + July 2016 + June 2016 + May 2016 + April 2016 + March 2016 + February 2016 + January 2016 + December 2015 + November 2015 + October 2015 + September 2015 + August 2015 + July 2015 + June 2015 + May 2015 + April 2015 + March 2015 + February 2015 + January 2015 + December 2014 + November 2014 + October 2014 + September 2014 + August 2014 + July 2014 + June 2014 + May 2014 + April 2014 + March 2014 + February 2014 + January 2014 + December 2013 + November 2013 + October 2013 + September 2013 + August 2013 + July 2013 + June 2013 + May 2013 + April 2013 + March 2013 + February 2013 + January 2013 + December 2012 + November 2012 + October 2012 + September 2012 + August 2012 + July 2012 + June 2012 + May 2012 + April 2012 + March 2012 + February 2012 + January 2012 + December 2011 + November 2011 + October 2011 + September 2011 + August 2011 + July 2011 + June 2011 + May 2011 + April 2011 + March 2011 + February 2011 + January 2011 + December 2010 + November 2010 + October 2010 + September 2010 + August 2010 + July 2010 + June 2010 + May 2010 + April 2010 + March 2010 + February 2010 + January 2010 + December 2009 + November 2009 + October 2009 + September 2009 + August 2009 + July 2009 + June 2009 + May 2009 + April 2009 + March 2009 + February 2009 + January 2009 + December 2008 + November 2008 + October 2008 + September 2008 + August 2008 + July 2008 + June 2008 + May 2008 + April 2008 + March 2008 + February 2008 + January 2008 + December 2007 + November 2007 + October 2007 + September 2007 + August 2007 + July 2007 + June 2007 + May 2007 + April 2007 + March 2007 + February 2007 + January 2007 + December 2006 + November 2006 + October 2006 + September 2006 * Search [open-cultu] (c)2006-2022 Open Culture, LLC. All rights reserved. * Home * About Us * Advertise with Us * Copyright Policy * Privacy Policy * Terms of Use * Bio * Audio Books * Online Courses * MOOCs * Movies * Languages * Textbooks * eBooks * * * * Quantcast Open Culture was founded by Dan Colman. Open Culture (openculture.com) and our trusted partners use technology such as cookies on our website to personalise ads, support social media features, and analyze our traffic. Please click below to consent to the use of this technology while browsing our site. Cookie settingsACCEPT Privacy & Cookies Policy Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary [*] Necessary Always Enabled Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Non-necessary [*] Non-necessary Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. SAVE & ACCEPT Close Do you want more open culture? if you like our Facebook fanpage, you'll receive more articles like the one you just read! --------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you already like us on Facebook? Do not ask me again for Facebook --------------------------------------------------------------------- Continue to the article >>