Laughter in the Wild

It has long been known that our nearest ancestors, the great apes, demonstrate laughter-type noises when they are playing.  It’s a fine line deciding what is aggression and what is rough-housing.  In particular, youngsters learn this line through exploration and play, hopefully in a supportive social environment. Laughter is useful to diffuse a potentially aggressive act, identifying it as “I’m not really going to bite your head off” when engaged in rough and tumble playing.  It’s also an invitation to join in the fun whilst learning to navigate the boundaries between play and fighting.

Tickling is a strong stimulus for laughter, which signals both enjoyment and openness to play.  One theory of the evolution of laughter presented by Professor Robin Dunbar from Oxford University, is that it developed to enable humans to exist and co-operate in larger groups than is possible in the animal kingdom.  Ape group size is influenced by the number of other apes that can be groomed satisfactorily.  This is a limited number.  Grooming is a way of social connection and caring which requires close attention and touching.  In humans laughing can be done at a distance, although it is greatly enhanced by eye contact.  Looking at someone laughing is often a strong stimulus to provoke laughter in the onlooker.  When you see people laughing together you don’t need to know exactly what they are laughing at to want to join in.

Laughter-like behaviour has recently been recorded in 65 different creatures by scientists in California investigating play vocalisations. Among the animals who laughed were domestic cows, cats and dogs, as well as foxes and seals.  Birds also “laugh” too and perhaps those parakeets which are so noisy around my home in London are, in fact, sharing a joke.  The study of laughter in general is still in the early stages of understanding.  Discovering how many species of animals use this type of behaviour is an exciting area of development of the understanding of “laughter” in the wild.

Despite this excitement, the noises studied are not all like human laughter or the chuckling sound heard in apes.  Laughter in animals is very different to human laughter and often less obvious and quieter.  An article in The Week recently reported the discovery of a sound resembling laughter in fish being recorded near a reef in Indonesia which was recovering from extensive explosive damage done by overzealous fishermen.  In degraded reefs the sounds diminish, while in healthy reefs, fish make a wide range of noises.  This fascinating discovery may have parallels with people recovering from stroke.  It has been shown that stimulation and engagement in rehabilitation in a busy environment leads to more activity and better recovery. Maybe the message is that social interaction with other in our tribe, sparks interaction.

Perhaps you’ll look at your pets differently now.  Next time you give your cat or dog a tummy rub, have a good look and see if you can detect a smile.  Look at how they react with other members of their feline families and canine muckers – when they are playing and having fun maybe it’s not just their owners who are smiling inwardly.

Anna