Cackling Cows and Snickering Stoats: Animals Enjoy a Good Giggle Now and Then

Scientists are beginning to understand that we aren’t the only animals who laugh — but human and non-human laughter do have some key differences.

By Avery Hurt
Aug 27, 2021 10:57 PM
Smiling dolphin
(Credit: rng/Shutterstock)

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Scientists have long known that non-human animals play, but a literature review published in the journal Bioacoustics this April found that laughter (called “play vocalization”) accompanies playtime in at least 65 species. Most of these chortling critters are mammals, but a few birds have been caught laughing too.

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