Facial mimicry and play: A comparative study in chimpanzees and gorillas

Emotion
Elisabetta PalagiGiada Cordoni

Abstract

Play fighting, a common form of mammalian play, can escalate into aggression if playful motivation is misinterpreted and not shared by players. In primates, playful facial expressions and mimicry can be performed to signal and share playful motivation. Here we compare play facial expressions (play face [PF]: lower teeth exposed; full play face [FPF]: upper and lower teeth exposed) and their mimicry in captive chimpanzees and lowland gorillas, during play fighting. These two species have different social dynamics, with social cohesion being lower-and play possibly riskier-in gorillas than in chimpanzees. Thus, we hypothesized that gorillas would perform redundant PFs more often to avoid misunderstanding (Prediction 1). However, the two species are phylogenetically very close and possess a similar biology. Thus, we hypothesized that both species could perform rapid facial mimicry (RFM: response within 1 s) and delayed facial mimicry (DFM: response occurring between 1 s and 5 s), which may have different roles in play modulation (Prediction 2). Gorillas performed more FPF than chimpanzees and FPFs lasted longer than the less intense PF (Prediction 1 supported). RFM was present in both species, whereas DFM was present only in chimp...Continue Reading

Citations

Jan 4, 2019·Genes, Brain, and Behavior·Elisa De StefaniPier Francesco Ferrari
May 23, 2019·Animal Cognition·Elisabetta PalagiFrancesca Bandoli
Feb 8, 2020·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Elisabetta Palagi, Giada Cordoni
May 13, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Jonas P NitschkeJennifer A Bartz
Mar 23, 2019·Scientific Reports·Derry TaylorMarina Davila-Ross
Sep 4, 2020·American Journal of Primatology·Víctor Beltrán FrancésFederica Amici
Mar 12, 2020·Behavioural Processes·Veronica MaglieriElisabetta Palagi
May 6, 2021·Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews. Cognitive Science·Ana Pérez-Manrique, Antoni Gomila
Jun 22, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Marina Davila-Ross, Guillaume Dezecache

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