Friday, April 09, 2010

Monkey Business

If this were a week ago I would be sure it was just another dumbass April Fools Day internet joke, but it appears to be legit. Courtesy of the fine folks over at Popular Science, I present to you my next job: ape tickler.
We know that apes are ticklish. But does ape and human laughter mean the same thing? Marina Davila-Ross, a neuroscientist at the University of Portsmouth in England, sought an answer in what is perhaps science’s most enjoyable research project: tickling human and ape babies to compare their laughter. After tickling the babies of several colleagues and recording their giggles, Davila-Ross traveled the world, recording the laughter of baby chimps, bonobos, gorillas and even a siamang, a gibbon found in Southeast Asia. In most cases, she held the mic as the apes’ handlers tickled the little ones. (“Apes are like us—many won’t be tickled by a stranger,” she explains.) But after three months in an orangutan rehab center in Borneo, she got to do her own tickling on half a dozen furry orange babies. Her research suggests that tickle-induced laughter developed in a common ancestor 10 to 16 million years ago. “It was fun,” Davila-Ross admits. “It’s play behavior, and everybody—apes and humans—enjoys that.”
"It’s play behavior, and everybody—apes and humans—enjoys that.” Ain't that the truth. Right turn Clyde.

23 comments:

T.J. said...

I just told a colleague I was an aspiring ape tickler. The reaction was what you might think it would be.

T.J. said...

Um...look at the caption. http://bit.ly/byMA96

d-train said...

that's....really....weird.

T.J. said...

Dan - the post? or that article pic?

rob said...

speaking of ape ticklers

T.J. said...

Let the tickling begin...http://bit.ly/9uAqul

Mark said...

I did a little ape tickling in the shower this morning...

rob said...

jon stewart weighs in on the griffin:

http://bit.ly/b3kk3D

d-train said...

the pic....

Clarence said...

I want to thank Mark. In a bitchy little mood this morning, and the monkey stuff didn't break through and bring more than a passing smirk to my face. Mark's shower comment, however, eliciting a legitimate guffaw. Nice work.

T.J. said...

rob and I already decided "aspiring ape tickler" will be yet another in a long line of euphemisms developed in the G:TlaBs

rob said...

ablml?

TR said...

Sounds like a job for Eric Massa. Just dress the apes like young men and/or sailors first.

d-train said...

tiger sent his whoo-ahs to sandy lyle's place last night...he (lyle) shot 69 yesterday and is on pace to maybe break 90 today...

d-train said...

lyle...13 over after 12
doh!

zman said...

Jon Stewart owes your daughter a royalty check for ripping off her "no-pants and a tail" quip.

Greg said...

I'm sure you've all heard the Tiger Woods redubbed ads at Deadspin....the one with the "text-to-voice" audio-over is the best.

d-train said...

there was a apparently a plane flying over augusta yesterday during tigger's round with a banner that read: buddhism, or BOOTY-ism?

i liked the tiki vs tiger thing on deadspin...

Marls said...

Dan - Sorry for the late response, but the Meat Wallet is what members of the NYPD call a person's anus. Apparently, this is a common place for hiding stuff. Apparently, they also use the term "Lady Meat Wallet" for the female specific cubby.

d-train said...

more accurate reporting here...
http://mystateline.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=152435

or here
http://tiny.cc/liyf3

d-train said...

marls - no worries. you were probably doing actual work, unlike others that loiter these halls incessantly.

zman said...

Dan, I'll use it in a sentence for you:

"I thought it was cool when Marles offered to pick up our bar tab, but it was very uncool when he protractedly fished his AmEx card out of his meat wallet."

T.J. said...

Halls? Who put the walls back up?