Ha-Ha! Ape study traces evolution of laughter

According to a new study, laughter's been around since our last common ancestor with the apes—at least 10 million years ago.

The scientists found striking similarities when comparing the young apes’ laughter to that of young human babies, proving that laughter has been evolving at least since the days when man and monkey’s last common ancestor walked the Earth.

“What we can say is that laughter goes back at least 10 to 16 million years,” Marina Davila Ross, a primatologist from University of Portsmouth told MSNBC.

(See full story at http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/04/1953175.aspx)

The scientists who conducted study say they are not so interested in finding out how laughter evolved but how it can heal.

Studying animal laughter certainly lightened the mood of Davila Ross and her colleagues: "When watching the apes play with the caretakers, it was contagious," she said.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how many zoos would let you walk in and tickle a few gorillas but you check out a couple of apes’ laughs for yourself, take a look at these video clips from the project.