Animals can laugh, too

By LiveScience, part of Future US Inc., adapted by Newsela staff on 08.04.21

Word Count 483
Level 650L

Laughter is an important way for humans to connect, but recent studies show that other animals may also use laughter. Photo: John M Lund
Photography Inc./Getty Images

Kids love to laugh. They often do it while playing together. Laughter is one way people bond and
connect with each other.

What about animals? Animals can play, which is something that happens just for fun. It is not part
of looking for food or shelter. It is something that is repeated. Animals might even make sounds
while they play. Scientists are studying if those sounds might be laughter.

Studying Animals That Laugh While Playing

Sasha Winkler is a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She
studies biological anthropology. This is a field of science that studies how animals behave. Winkler
works with small monkeys called rhesus macaques.

These monkeys would play together by chasing each other. One day, Winkler noticed a sound the
animals made during the play. The monkeys sounded like they were panting or out of breath. But

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it reminded Winkler of quiet laughter. This made Winkler wonder if other animals laugh while
playing too.

Winkler worked with Greg Bryant. He's a professor at UCLA. They read research written by other
scientists studying animals. Winkler and Bryant identified 65 different animals that laugh while
playing. Most examples came from animals such as primates (monkeys and apes), rodents (rats)
and mammals that live in the ocean (dolphins).

Animals' Different Laughing Sounds

Many animals laugh to send a message to other animals. This is called signaling. Animal play can
sometimes look like fighting. Laughing can signal that the animal is having fun. Some animals also
make a "play face," like a smile to show that they are happy. But animal laughs are not quite the
same as human laughs.

When vervet monkeys play they make a purring sound. Rats make a very high-pitched sound.
Bottlenose dolphins whistle and squawk while they swim and jump together. The squirrel monkey
makes a soft squeaky sound when playing.

Two types of birds also made laughing sounds. The Australian magpie and the kea parrot both
laughed. In fact, laughter is one way that kea parrots let others know it is time to play. Scientists
found this out by playing recordings of kea parrots laughing. The birds that heard the recording
started to play!

Scientists have not heard fish, amphibians or reptiles laugh. No one knows if these animals play at
all.

The Evolution Of Human Laughing

Monkeys, apes, and gorillas laugh the most like people. They pant, chuckle, grunt, squeal and
smack their lips when playing.

This might help explain where human laughter comes from. Humans may have started off panting
like some monkeys do. Over time, laughter became the sounds that we use today.

There is one big difference between human and animal laughter. Most sounds animals make
during play are very quiet. Only animals they are playing with can hear the sounds. Humans laugh
more loudly. The laughter is a sign that we're part of a group.

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Quiz

1 Read the paragraph below from the article.

When vervet monkeys play they make a purring sound. Rats make a very high-pitched sound.
Bottlenose dolphins whistle and squawk while they swim and jump together. The squirrel monkey
makes a soft squeaky sound when playing.

HOW does this paragraph support the main idea of the article?

(A) by describing the sounds different animals make when they laugh

(B) by comparing different animal laughs with the different human laughs

(C) by showing why Sasha Winkler came up with the idea to study animals laughing

(D) by explaining why some animals laugh and why other animals do not laugh

2 Select the sentence that summarizes the article.

(A) Scientists say that humans tend to laugh much more loudly than humans.

(B) Scientists learned that vervet monkeys make a purring sound when they play.

(C) Scientists have not heard fish, amphibians or reptiles laugh nor have they seen them play.

(D) Scientists found that animals laugh as a way to signal that they are having fun.

3 With which statement would the author MOST likely agree?

(A) Animals always laugh when they are fighting and it is hard to tell when they are playing.

(B) Rats and squirrel monkeys both have soft laughs, but dolphins and magpies have loud laughs.

(C) A big difference between human laughter and animal laughter is that animal laughter is quieter.

(D) The laughter of monkeys, apes and gorillas is the least like the laughter of humans.

4 Is Sasha Winkler’s point of view similar to Greg Bryant’s point of view? How do you know?

(A) Yes; Both Winkler and Bryant agree that kea parrots' laughter is most like human laughter.

(B) Yes; Both Winkler and Bryant agree that about 65 different animals laugh while playing.

(C) No; Winkler believes monkeys have a quiet way of laughing, while Bryant thinks they are just panting.

(D) No; Winkler believes only monkeys are capable of laughing, while Bryant thinks all animals can.

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.