Laughter is the instinctive expression of amusement. We laugh by making sounds and movements of the face. Laughter is rhythmic, often audible contractions of the diaphragm and other parts of the respiratory system. To answer the question “Do animals laugh?”, animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, rats, dogs and dolphins display behavior that is similar to laughter.
In 2009 Marina Davila Ross, a psychologist at the U.K.’s University of Portsmouth, conducted experiments in which she tickled infant and juvenile primates such as orangutans, gorillas, and chimpanzees. The apes responded by painting distinctively, which scientists say could be similar to laughing in humans. Their laughter is not readily recognizable to humans as such, because it is generated by alternating inhalations and exhalations that sound more like panting.
Apes may also have a good sense of humour. Koko, a gorilla at The Gorilla Foundation, in Woodside, California, who was trained in sign language, once tied her trainer’s shoelaces together and signed to her to chase.
Dogs sometimes pant in a manner that sounds like a human laugh, while rats emit long ultrasonic calls while playing and when tickled.
In 2004, researchers studying dolphins noticed a particular set of sounds – a short burst of pulses, followed by a whistle, made by them during play-fighting.
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