We aren’t the only apes who can playfully tease each other, study finds

We aren’t the only apes who can playfully tease each other, study finds


Mongabay reports:

Being silly and indulging in humor may sound easy, but our brains need to do a lot of heavy lifting to pull it off. Landing a joke requires recognizing what’s socially acceptable, being spontaneous, predicting how others may react, and playfully violating some social expectations. Until now, research on the complex cognitive abilities that underpin humor has focused primarily on humans, while other species are understudied.

In a recent study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers present the first evidence of playful teasing behavior in great apes.

Thought to be a precursor to joking, playful teasing involves the teaser performing provocative actions such as poking, hitting or pulling on a body part with playful rather than aggressive intent.

Although primatologists in the past, including Jane Goodall, have anecdotally described great apes as being silly and pestering others, this is the first study to systematically describe the behavior in zoo-housed chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans. [Continue reading…]

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