Apes Laugh

From BBC-Science and National Geographic:

Tickled apes yield laughter clue Research carried out by tickling apes and infants suggests laughter evolved in a common ancestor of great apes and humans.

Laughter seems to be shared by all great apes – that would mean having a giggle dates back some 10 to 16 million years to our common ancestor.

Here's what it sounds like when apes laugh ...

AUDIO (Requires Windows Media Player)

Hear Bonobo Laughter

Hear Chimp Laughter

Hear Gorilla Laughter

Hear Human-Baby Laughter

Hear Orangutan Laughter

Mapping the audible similarities and differences in laughs across the five species, the researchers created an acoustic family tree of human and great ape laughter.