Great Apes and Humans Share Laughter Rhythm for 15 Million Years

On June 25, a study published in Communications Biology indicates that both humans and great apes exhibit laughter with comparable timing and rhythm, hinting at shared evolutionary origins from around 15 million years ago. The research involved analyzing 140 laughter recordings from four children and 13 young apes—comprising two gorillas, four orangutans, four chimpanzees, and three bonobos—during playful interactions and tickling. While the fundamental rhythm of laughter has remained unchanged since the last common ancestor, human laughter tends to be faster and more varied. Closer relatives like chimpanzees and bonobos laughed more quickly than gorillas and orangutans. Co-author Chiara De Gregorio from the University of Warwick remarked on humans' unique ability to modulate laughter based on context, which may have contributed to the development of language. A related study in 2024 published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B revealed that great apes also engage in teasing and joking, demonstrating a complex understanding of emotions and social norms. Kristin Sabbi, a primatologist at Harvard University who was not part of the study, emphasized laughter as a significant connection between humans and nonhuman primates. The study's limitations include a small sample size, suggesting that future research could investigate how laughter's flexibility evolves throughout an ape's life.