A group of researchers from the University of Tokyo found that wolves are also sensitive to the contagion of yawning, which may be related to their capacity for empathy.
This is the main conclusion of a study that was published in the journal Plos One and attended by the Spanish Teresa Romero, who is investigating that Japanese university.
To accomplish this work, the researchers followed 12 wolves – six males and six females – Tama Zoo in Tokyo for five months.
In its observation, the researchers analyzed the wolves that yawned in the first place and the reaction of those who were within two meters.
The goal was to see if the wolves were close yawning or not for another three minutes, detailed Efe Teresa Romero, in a written reply.
In view of the observations, it was concluded that “the wolves, as in humans and dogs, social ties increase the sensitivity of contagion of yawns,” said the Spanish researcher.
Another conclusion of this study is that females react much faster than males to yawn, although the overall frequency is the same for both, he added.
This suggests that females are more sensitive to stimuli around them (in humans was not detected no difference between men and women in response to yawning).
The paper’s authors argue that, despite the small number of wolves observed, the results provide a “first evidence” that the contagion of yawning may be related to the ability of wolves to empathy and suggests that mechanisms that may be applied to more species than those previously thought.
Romero explained that empathy is a very broad concept that ranges from basic forms such as emotional contagion, the more complex forms only described in humans.
The least complex forms were detected in different species of animals, from chimps to rats.
For example, recently documented the sensitivity of dogs to yawn when they are exposed to a yawn of a human, but it is unclear whether this ability is rooted in the evolution of these animals or whether it is related to its domestication .
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