Sunday, November 8, 2009

Contagious Yawning in Geladas

Over at Beast Ape & The Bleeding Heart Baboons blog, Beast Ape discusses about contagious yawning in geladas.

This research suggests that the yawning contagion is associated with the ability to attribute mental states to others (and possibly empathy). Among non-human mammals, contagious yawning has been demonstrated in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides), and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).

Read more about that blog post here.

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