Researchers have found that bottlenose dolphins make a distinct open mouth gesture when playing with other dolphins, similar to how humans smile and laugh with each other.
Just like humans, a dolphin’s face can’t help but give away when it’s having a good time. Scientists in Italy have found that bottlenose dolphins make a distinct open mouth gesture when playing with others. The display is likely akin to smiling and laughing in humans and suggests that these playful facial expressions are deeply rooted in the shared ancestral past of mammals, the researchers say.with their infants to being incredibly social with each other .
Of the 1,288 open mouth events they recorded, 92% occurred during paired dolphin sessions. Most also happened when the dolphins were clearly able to see one another. And when the dolphins saw another dolphin “smile” at them, they quickly returned back the same gesture about a third of a time. The team’s findings were“In our research, we’ve uncovered the presence of a distinct facial display, the Open Mouth, in bottlenose dolphins,” Palagi said.
The team also appears to be the first to discover that dolphins can recognize and rapidly mimic the playful open mouth gestures of their playmates, perhaps similar to how humans can burst into smiles and laughter when we see our friends having fun, too.
Palagi says more research should be done to investigate how other animals, particularly the mammals more closely to related to dolphins like deer, hippos, and other artiodactyls, communicate while playing. There should also be more study into how dolphins use their voices while playing and how their play differs between other dolphins and human caretakers, she adds.
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