We all love a good laugh - even the great apes

摘要

Human laughter can be traced back 10-16 million years to the last common ancestor of humans and great apes, according to new research. Dr Marina Davila Ross, a primatologist of the psychology department at the Univetsity of Portsmouth, reconstructed the origins of human laughter by mapping the laughter sounds of great apes and humans on an evolutionary tree. She took over 800 acoustic recordings from 22 juvenile and infant apes and three human babies while their palms, feet, necks and armpits were being tickled.