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Study finds similar laugh rhythms in humans and great apes
Researchers compared decades-old ape recordings with new child laughter samples and found matching timing patterns. The results point to a shared trait that may date back 15 million years.
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A study published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology reports that human and great ape laughter share similar rhythms and regular timing between chuckles. Researchers reexamined older recordings of ape vocalizations and compared them with new audio of four young children being tickled and playing at home. The analysis showed consistent intervals between laughs across both groups.
Shared evolutionary trait Study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England, said the pattern indicates humans and great apes have been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years. The research focused on sound structure rather than facial expressions.
Earlier work examined how animals display playful faces, but fewer studies have measured the acoustic features of laughter itself.
Context and next steps Laughter in other animals, such as ultrasonic squeaks in rats, does not follow the same timing patterns observed in humans and great apes. Human laughter has also become faster and more varied by context compared with ape vocalizations.
Brittany Florkiewicz, who studies animal communication at Lyon College and was not involved in the project, said the findings align with existing understanding and support further recordings of species that show playful expressions, including dogs, horses, and cats.
