Animal Laughter Study Doesn't Help Evolution | The Institute for Creation Research

Animal Laughter Study Doesn't Help Evolution

Scientists recently studied laughter in different animals, such as rats and primates, by tickling them. One study compared the sounds made by humans and great apes:

[The researchers] found many acoustic similarities, which has led them to believe that laughter in great apes shared the same evolutionary origin as laughter in humans, suggesting a common ancestor that giggled when tickled.1

They concluded that "laughter is at least 30 million to 60 million years old."1 With a range of 30 million years, though, it's safe to assume that evolutionists have no idea when laughter evolved.2

The BBC reported that tickling a gorilla "sounds a lot like human laughter."1 However, evolutionists maintain that people evolved from chimpanzee-like ancestors—not gorilla-like. Also, macaws, parrots, and other birds can mimic human laughter even more closely than any primate can, but evolutionists don't suggest that people evolved from parrots.

And recent reports found that pigeons have numerical abilities like those of primates. Researchers observed pigeons employing "abstract numerical rules" that are "indistinguishable from that displayed by monkeys."3 Does this mean that primates share the same evolutionary origin as pigeons?

The case for laughter could be compared to shivering. When mammals, as well as some large insects and birds, get cold by an external stimulus, they react by shivering. This is the rapid contraction of large muscle groups generating heat, otherwise known as involuntary thermogenesis. An ability to shiver doesn't suggest that the creatures that do it come from a common ancestor. The same goes for laughing (the reaction) when tickled (the external stimulus).

So, it would make sense that rats would react, albeit subjectively, to the tickling.4 A variety of animals do,5 but does this reveal anything about how human laughter evolved? The answer is "no."

References

  1. Morelle, R. Scientists tickle animals to find laughter clues. BBC News. Posted on bbc.co.uk December 29, 2011, accessed January 30, 2012.
  2. Sherwin, F. 2004. The Origin of Laughter. Acts & Facts. 33 (7).
  3. Scarf, D., H. Hayne and M. Colombo. 2011. Pigeons on Par with Primates in Numerical Competence. Science. 334 (6063): 1664.
  4. Panksepp, J. and J. Burgdorf. 2003. "Laughing" rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? Physiology & Behavior. 79 (3): 533-547.
  5. Tickled apes yield laughter clue. BBC News. Posted on news.bbc.co.uk June 4, 2009, accessed January 30, 2012.

* Mr. Sherwin is Research Associate, Senior Lecturer, and Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on February 9, 2012.

The Latest
NEWS
Plants Rely on Quantum Mechanics
Scientists will probably never fully understand photosynthesis as additional research uncovers even more fascinating mysteries.1,2 ICR’s...

NEWS
Martian Polar Ice Cap ''Surprisingly Young''?
A team of German planetary scientists has concluded that a three-kilometer-thick northern polar ice cap on Mars has a “surprisingly young”...

NEWS
''Blood Worm Moon'' Total Lunar Eclipse 2025
Barring cloud cover, about 75% of the country saw the total lunar eclipse, aka the “Blood Worm Moon.” Texas had good weather conditions...

NEWS
Jupiter: The Mighty Guardian of Earth
NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently unveiled breathtaking images of Jupiter during its 66th flyby of the colossal planet. Juno has been exploring...

CREATION PODCAST
Glacial Archives: Mysteries Hidden Beneath the Ice | The Creation...
Welcome to the first episode in a series called “The Failures of Old Earth Creationism.” Many Christians attempt to fit old earth...

NEWS
Arachnid Origin—WGD (What God Did)
Where did spiders (arachnids) come from? What was their origin? Clearly, the fossil record shows spiders have always been spiders1,2 along...

NEWS
Seastar Skeletal Evolution?
The beautiful sea stars (“starfish”), classified as echinoderms, are one of the most easily identifiable marine invertebrates, with their...

NEWS
Nitrogen Networks Negate Naturalism
The element nitrogen is critical in the living world. It is a basic building block of structural and regulatory proteins, nucleic acids, and chlorophyll...

NEWS
March 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV) ICR's March 2025 wallpaper is...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Moonwalker: The Incredible True Story of General Charlie Duke...
What would it be like to walk on the moon? General Charlie Duke is one of the privileged few who enjoyed such an awe-inspiring experience. But believe...