It has long been known that dolphins love to play. They chase each other, perform acrobatic tricks in the water and jump above its surface. And now Italian scientists have found out that dolphins can also smile.
Of course, these sea creatures do not have such a lively facial expressions, as, for example, in dogs or monkeys. Dolphins simply open their mouth, or, as it is also called, beak. Scientists believe that this is the animal’s way of communicating a desire to play, as well as the fact that he has no bad intentions.
Researchers have studied the behavior of 22 afalines living in captivity. To do this, they analyzed 80 hours of video footage, including more than 800 dolphin games.
Elisabetta Palagi, collaborator at the University of Pisa]:
“During the study, we found that dolphins open their mouths during play. This can be seen as a signal. They give it when they are in sight of another dolphin.”
The researchers also noted that dolphins rarely smile when playing with humans, and don’t smile at all when playing alone.
The scientists hope their research will help to better understand how animals communicate and form social bonds.
