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Updated: Jun 28, 2025
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A Laboratory Method to Measure Contagious Yawning in Rats
Published on: June 14, 2019
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More than a simple fixed action pattern: Yawning in drills
Alice Galotti1, Giulia Fausti1, Grazia Casetta1
1Unit of Ethology, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Via Alessandro Volta 6, 56126, Pisa, Italy.
Primates; Journal of Primatology
|April 22, 2024
Summary
Drill monkeys exhibit varied yawning behaviors, with males yawning longer and more frequently. Yawning in drills may signal behavioral state changes and spread among individuals, suggesting social communication.
Area of Science:
- Primatology
- Ethology
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Yawning in non-human animals is increasingly studied.
- Drills (Mandrillus leucophaeus) provide a unique model for yawn research due to distinct physical traits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate yawn variants (covered YCT, uncovered teeth YUCT) in drills.
- To test the effects of sex, dominance, and context on yawning.
- To examine the association between yawning and behavioral state changes, and the phenomenon of yawn contagion.
Main Methods:
- Observation and recording of yawning behaviors in drills.
- Analysis of yawn duration and type (YCT vs. YUCT).
- Sequential analysis to assess temporal links between yawning and behavioral transitions.
Main Results:
- Males performed longer and more YUCT yawns than females.
- Yawning was significantly associated with subsequent behavioral state changes in drills.
- Yawn contagion was observed, with one drill's yawn increasing the likelihood of yawning in others.
Conclusions:
- Yawning in drills is variable and influenced by sex.
- Yawning may serve as an indicator of impending behavioral state changes.
- Yawning in drills demonstrates social signaling and contagious properties, suggesting communicative functions.
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