Chimps catch people’s yawns in sign of flexible empathy
After getting accustomed to people, apes open wide at sight of gape-mouthed human strangers
YAWN BONDS Chimps catch yawns not only from members of their group but from familiar and unfamiliar people, a new study finds. Researchers suggest that the apes employ this form of empathic behavior with humanlike flexibility.
M. Campbell and F. de Waal 2014/Yerkes National Primate Research Center/Emory Univ.