Great Apes kiss and cuddle to keep the peace, says study
New research suggests that physical affection, such as kissing and cuddling, serves as a critical mechanism for maintaining social harmony among great apes.
Velocity timeline
How fast coverage is spreading — measured hourly from article rate × source diversity. How this works →
The brief
A recent study indicates that great apes utilize kissing and cuddling to prevent conflicts and promote peace within their groups. The research suggests that reassuring touch is a tool for social harmony among humans' closest ape relatives.
Coverage from BBC News, Science News, and EurekAlert! emphasizes the role of physical tenderness in conflict prevention. The Conversation notes that these behaviors existed six million years before the evolution of humans, while ETV Bharat describes such touch as one of evolution's oldest survival tricks.
Future focus remains on the relationship between these evolutionary survival tricks and the maintenance of social stability in ape populations.
Synthesized by Newsylist from the headlines below under a strict no-invention contract. ✓ fact-checked: all claims supported by sources Updated 50m ago.
Quick answers
What behaviors do great apes use to keep the peace?
According to the study, great apes use kissing and cuddling to maintain social harmony and prevent conflicts.
How long has reassuring touch been used in this context?
The Conversation reports that reassuring touch kept the peace six million years before humans evolved.
What is the primary goal of this physical touch?
The study suggests these behaviors are used to promote social harmony and act as a survival trick.
Coverage (7)
- Durham study suggests touch may have helped apes – and humans The Northern Echo · 10h ago
- Great Apes kiss and cuddle to keep the peace, says study BBC News · 10h ago
- Ape cuddles could prevent conflicts Science News · 10h ago
- Reassuring touch kept the peace six million years before humans evolved The Conversation · 10h ago
- Why A Hug Before Dinner May Be One Of Evolution's Oldest Survival Tricks ETV Bharat · 10h ago
- Try a little tenderness - new study into humans' closest ape relatives suggests physical touch can promote social harmony EurekAlert! · 10h ago
- Great Apes kiss and cuddle to keep the peace, says study BBC · 10h ago broke it first
People, places & organizations
Topics
Related trends
3.5-million-year-old mystery creature found in Japan is a 'giant' never seen before
A 3.5-million-year-old fossil discovery in Japan has revealed a giant salamander species that fills a 20-million-year evolutionary gap.
Rates of passerine body plan evolution in time and space
An AI tool has provided evidence that bird species may evolve in rapid, explosive bursts driven by climate shifts.
Pokémon TCG: Mega Evolution—Pitch Black Is Now Available in Pokémon TCG Live
The Mega Evolution—Pitch Black expansion for the Pokémon Trading Card Game has launched, bringing new cards and digital integration to the platform.
Bats can catch and eat birds mid-flight. A painter may have known that 400 years before scientists
A 1611 Renaissance painting may have documented bats hunting birds mid-flight centuries before the behavior was scientifically discovered in 2025.
Octopus Brains Defy a Long-Held Rule About Why Animals Evolve Intelligence
New research into cephalopod intelligence suggests that ecological factors, rather than social behavior, drive brain evolution.
Earliest animal with a head was also the oldest known ‘righty’
A 550-million-year-old fossil may represent the earliest animal with a head and the first evidence of right-handedness in the animal kingdom.