Jun 5, 2025 07:17 PM
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1086216
EXCERPTS: Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) can ‘catch’ yawns from an android imitating human facial expressions, according to new research from City St George’s, University of London.
The study, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates that chimpanzees will both yawn and lie down in response to yawns made by an android, suggesting that it may act as a cue to rest rather than simply triggering an automatic response.
The findings appear to show contagious yawning due to an inanimate model for the first time, according to the authors, and the study also highlights the role of social factors in shaping yawn contagion.
Contagious yawning – where seeing another animal yawn triggers a yawn response in an individual – is primarily observed in mammals and some fish. While the evolutionary origins of yawning and yawn contagion are still unknown, some animals, including humans, can catch yawns from other species.
[...] Lead author Dr Joly-Mascheroni said:
“Our findings show that chimpanzees exhibit yawn contagion when triggered by a non-biological inanimate agent, a humanoid android, that looks as if it is yawning. Despite its elusive primary functions – we still don’t know exactly why we yawn, let alone why yawning is contagious – yawning may still have an evolutionarily old, non-verbal communicative role, and its contagious aspect may help us find out more about how humans and animals developed ways of communication and social interaction.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)
EXCERPTS: Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) can ‘catch’ yawns from an android imitating human facial expressions, according to new research from City St George’s, University of London.
The study, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates that chimpanzees will both yawn and lie down in response to yawns made by an android, suggesting that it may act as a cue to rest rather than simply triggering an automatic response.
The findings appear to show contagious yawning due to an inanimate model for the first time, according to the authors, and the study also highlights the role of social factors in shaping yawn contagion.
Contagious yawning – where seeing another animal yawn triggers a yawn response in an individual – is primarily observed in mammals and some fish. While the evolutionary origins of yawning and yawn contagion are still unknown, some animals, including humans, can catch yawns from other species.
[...] Lead author Dr Joly-Mascheroni said:
“Our findings show that chimpanzees exhibit yawn contagion when triggered by a non-biological inanimate agent, a humanoid android, that looks as if it is yawning. Despite its elusive primary functions – we still don’t know exactly why we yawn, let alone why yawning is contagious – yawning may still have an evolutionarily old, non-verbal communicative role, and its contagious aspect may help us find out more about how humans and animals developed ways of communication and social interaction.” (MORE - missing details, no ads)