Animals and Laughter: Do Our Pets Get Our Jokes?

[Math Is Hard]

I always suspected my cat got my jokes..

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7348880/

Studies by various groups suggest monkeys, dogs and even rats love a good laugh. People, meanwhile, have been laughing since before they could talk.

"Indeed, neural circuits for laughter exist in very ancient regions of the brain, and ancestral forms of play and laughter existed in other animals eons before we humans came along with our 'ha-ha-has' and verbal repartee," says Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist at Bowling Green State University...

 

[Danger]

I always suspected my cat got my jokes..

He's probably just acting polite, like the rest of us...

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Another thread about this from the Biology forum.

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=37311

 

[Math Is Hard]

Thanks, Ivan, for linking the threads up. I had not seen that other article. I've always been curious about what laughter is - why people do it, but animals don't, and what purpose it serves.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I had not seen that other article.

The other thread is pretty old and had not been active.

 

[hypatia]

smiling dog contest My dog thinks she's funny, she does something she finds amuseing and you can almost see her smirk. She also smiles.

 

[Danger]

smiling dog contest My dog thinks she's funny, she does something she finds amuseing and you can almost see her smirk. She also smiles.

Ha! The disguise continues to hold...

 

[Math Is Hard]

I have seen certain breeds of dogs that smile - or at least their facial muscles certainly produce something that gives that effect. The first time I saw it was when a friend's Australian Shepherd dog smiled at me. It gave me a chill - it was totally unexpected!

My parents' neighbors have a Doberman named Vanna. Vanna smiles all the time - just loves to show her teeth. From what I hear she is just a big ol' love bug and gentle as a lamb. Of course it scares the heck out of anyone who comes the door because what they think they are seeing is a vicious snarling Doberman!

 

[Evo]

The other thread is pretty old and had not been active.

I remember that thread! I had been about to start a thread about prairie dogs that were using the same means of communication, but it was so similar to your article, I didn't.

 

[Danger]

I had been about to start a thread about prairie dogs that were using the same means of communication

You Yanks are a little backward, aren't you? Our gophers used to whistle, but now that cell phones are small enough to fit their paws...

 

[bjon-07]

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0141002255,00.html

Have any of you read this book. Provine gives very good evolutionary explantion of laughter.

 

[Math Is Hard]

ooooh! I am going to have to get that book! Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Knavish]

He's probably just acting polite, like the rest of us...

Danger, you're a riot!
That had me laughing, heh.

 

[Danger]

Danger, you're a riot!
That had me laughing, heh.

I wish I could tell if that was sarcasm or not...

 

[SOS2008]

So much has happened since I last posted (I've actually had to work!). Evo changed her avatar again--Evo you are so pretty.

Okay, sort of on the topic... Once I was shopping for a birthday card and found one that said: "Muskrats don't celebrate birthdays... I say 'no' to the Muskrat way." I thought it was so funny, but no one else did.

Anyway, dogs seem to use facial expressions. Cats just don't bother much--well except when they're pissed off.

 

[Moonbear]

I say 'no' to the Muskrat way."

Try saying that out loud! It's more of a tongue twister than it appears!

 

[SOS2008]

Try saying that out loud! It's more of a tongue twister than it appears!

Dudette, didn't you learn anything from Gale17? You're supposed to use your "internal monologue" when you read.

 

[Danger]

It's more of a tongue twister than it appears!

I've played regular Twister, but this sounds more interesting...

 

[Moonbear]

Dudette, didn't you learn anything from Gale17? You're supposed to use your "internal monologue" when you read.

Okay, maybe it's a brain twister too! I can't even think it right.

 

[Chronos]

I never believed that dog laugh story until I saw it first hand. It was Christmas eve. The cat climbed up into the xmas tree, bit a bulb and was electrocuted in front of the entire family. The dog barked and drug herself to the kitchen to feed [they do that a lot] on two legs - she had laughed her a$$ off.

 

[Moonbear]

I never believed that dog laugh story until I saw it first hand. It was Christmas eve. The cat climbed up into the xmas tree, bit a bulb and was electrocuted in front of the entire family. The dog barked and drug herself to the kitchen to feed [they do that a lot] on two legs - she had laughed her a$$ off.

 

[Danger]

smiling dog contest

If they had a laughing dog contest, could I get away with entering my pet hyena? It's kind of a dog...

 

[bjon-07]

On laughter is a great book. It’s almost too good. It almost made me want to go into psychology (psychology...ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww) At least after I came to my sense and decided to major in a real science

 

[Grace]

Yes, my dog has a sense of humor about certain things and we think that we can see her smile. Like certain people, she has absolutely no sense of humor about her food. I guess that survival is in an even more basic area of the brain. Must be right next to the politics region.

 

[Danger]

Must be right next to the politics region.

I think that the politics part is even older. It has to go right back to the primeval ooze. I mean really, look at how slimy it is.