Topline
The vocal control that makes human speech possible did not emerge in a single evolutionary jump, researchers say. Instead, a new University of Warwick study suggests it has been developing for roughly 15 million years—an insight reached after scientists tickled gorillas and studied recordings of chimpanzees at play.
A baby Western lowland gorilla named Zeytin holds onto a keeper’s neck at the Polonezkoy Zoo in Istanbul on September 3, 2025.
Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP
Key Facts
A University of Warwick study published Thursday found that humans and the four other living great ape species—chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans—share a similar laughter rhythm, producing sounds at evenly spaced intervals.
Researchers examined 140 separate laughter sequences from orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees and human children between six months and seven years old. The sounds were recorded during “controlled, playful tickling interactions in their home environments.”
The findings indicate that “great apes have been laughing in a recognizable way to modern humans for at least 15 million years.”
While human laughter appears to have become quicker and more varied over the course of evolution, the research found that the basic rhythmic structure remains consistent across all the species studied.
Humans, however, stood apart in one key respect: they were the only species in the study shown to have developed contextual control over laughter. That ability—to suppress, imitate or adjust laughter depending on the social setting—is described by researchers as an important foundation for the evolution of speech.
The study was published in Nature’s Communications Biology.
What To Watch For
The University of Warwick study could be extended to gibbons and other primates that do not fall under the great ape category, according to a release, which noted the extension could further map the evolution of vocal control.
Key Background
Adriano Lameira, an associate professor at Warwick’s ApeTank research group, said laughter “provides a rare evolutionary window” into how vocal transformations happened over time. The study challenges a long-held view that human vocal control emerged abruptly, instead arguing the evolution of human speech dates back millions of years, even before the first humans existed.
Further Reading
Rhythm and timing in laughter reveal that human vocal plasticity falls on a hominid continuum (Nature.com)
