Like humans, apes also play pranks on their friends

Orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas are capable of playing pranks on their companions For the simple pleasure of laughing at others, The discovered behavior, until now thought to be only human, reveals at least 13 million years of evolutionary awakening among hominids.

75 hours of video recording of the great ape habitats of the San Diego and Leipzig zoos recorded 142 cases of spontaneous interactions between primates, which were later classified into 18 types. Pranks include striking the body, interrupting an activity, impeding movement, striking, pulling hair, stealing, tickling, invading personal space and even offering a body part and then refusing to contact. The moment involves the classic prank of getting her back. (Remove your hand while greeting).

Jokes among apes were characterized by the fact that they were one-sided (only one primate enjoyed it), they were attention-grabbing mechanisms, they sought (provoked) a reaction from their partner, and they were performed frequently. Were. Study published in Royal Society PublicationsGee notes that playful teasing appears in calm contexts, which denies them being aggressive mechanisms.

Apes provoke their companions to have fun

The researchers concluded that the species that jokes the most is chimpanzees, while those that resort to these provocative events the least are gorillas. Bonobos and orangutans remained in between. Pushing, hitting, and hindering movement were the most common taunts across all four ape species. Overall, these behaviors accounted for 64% of all incidents.

“We found that the species were equally irritated and that juveniles were more irritated than adults. “Playful teasing in great apes is probably a homeostatic trait, inherited from our last common ancestor, which had cognitive precursors to jokes and humor,” the study says.

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Jokes: The Human-Ape Connection

The last common ancestor between apes and humans is a subject of ongoing study in the field of paleoanthropology. According to the most accepted evolutionary theory, this existence appeared 7 million years ago. Two branches were obtained from different animal species homo sapiens And that led to the appearance of the great apes, a club made up of bonobos, orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees.

Apes and humans share some behaviors that suggest an evolutionary relationship. Among the most well-known are the use of tools, complex communication, problem solving, and the emergence of emotions such as empathy, compassion, and the need to care for other members of one’s group. The execution of jokes for entertaining purposes is a new feature that should be added to the list of similarities.

The aim of the research was to create a coding system for ape gestures that could lead to an inventory of intonation among primates. At present, it is not possible to investigate the motive behind the spat between them and compare it with human acts. In this homo sapiensThe impulse to tease one’s neighbor arises even before language develops (children play pranks on each other) and serves to maintain healthy relationships while exploring social boundaries.