Bonobos, or “Pygmy Chimpanzees”, are primates, like us. They are also Great Apes, like us. Bonobos can also laugh, just like we do every day. Many of us think that humans are the only animals cabaple of laughing, and that we also invented it, but this is utterly wrong. Most likely, a primate similar to the Bonobo was the first to laugh. Humans laugh mainly when we exhale, but Bonobos, on the other hand, laugh when they both inhale and exhale, creating a non-stop laugh. Other studies have found that these Pygmy Chimpanzees have been found to laugh at rudimentary, childish human jokes. It has been recorded that a Chimpanzee once laughed hysterically when he gave a rock to his caretaker to eat.

Another instance is when one cracked up after peeing on his caretaker. These stimuli of laughter are very similar to human laughter, suggesting that our laughter is very similar to laughter of other species. Chimpanzees also have a similar expression when they laugh: an open-mouthed, relaxed smile. Adult Chimpanzees have also been found to enjoy laughing well into their adulthood. Another supporting point that laughter was not invented by humans is that laughter has the same purpose in all cultures, no matter how isolated they are. Laughter is also instinctive, as it is found in blind and deaf infants. So next time you laugh, some other Chimpanzee somewhere out there is laughing more hysterically than you.