Scientists have figured out why sea lions yawn so often

Scientists have figured out why sea lions yawn so often
Scientists have figured out why sea lions yawn so often
Anonim

In pictures of seals, they can often be seen yawning with their mouths wide open. Scientists analyzed the behavior of a group of South American sea lions in the Valencia Oceanographic Park for fourteen months and found that these animals from the subfamily of eared seals yawn not only because they are tired, but also as a result of stress. Thus, after intense social interactions with relatives, both participants in the conflict had an increase in the frequency of yawns.

Yawning is an involuntary breathing act that, according to scientists, is characteristic of most vertebrates. Its occurrence can have both physiological causes, such as thermoregulation or drowsiness, and social ones, which are less well understood.

“To investigate the social causes of yawning, it is interesting to observe it in animals with a certain cognitive complexity that live in close-knit groups, such as primates or marine mammals. This behavioral response in different species can be due to very similar factors, - said study author Professor Clara Lamazares of the University of Valencia.

Anxiety has previously been identified as one of the causes of yawning in Madagascar lemurs. The study was led by Elisabetta Palagi of the University of Pisa. Even earlier, ethologist Jane Goodall, in her first studies of chimpanzees in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, found that animals begin to yawn more often in the presence of humans.

In the future, scientists intend to determine whether sea lions have the contagious effect of yawning, which can be attributed to the manifestation of empathy. This will be further evidence of similar aspects of behavior in humans and animals.

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