TIL yawning is observed in almost all vertebrate animals and is "contagious" across species. There is no consensus on why yawning occurs.
TIL yawning is observed in almost all vertebrate animals and is "contagious" across species. There is no consensus on why yawning occurs.
Seems like if you read between the lines, there's a certain commonality in increased respiration/alertness, stress response and showing of teeth that solves a common need across species. When a subject recognizes a lack of alertness, a present threat or the need for aggressive action in the near future, a yawn can help prepare for that while also giving pause to those who might be threats and/or potentially paralyzing prey. The failure in consensus here appears, to me, an inability to describe those seemingly disparate needs as related to the physiology that drives them. Not a lack of understanding, so much as a deficiency in perlocution.
I've read that people with autism are less likely to catch a yawn. Not sure if that's true.
I've taken meds that caused uncontrollable yawning. That's super annoying!
reading the title of this post made me yawn lol
It was the picture for me
It's such a good self portrait.
welp, i'm glad i wasn't alone
I used to have a dog that would yawn with a little whine whenever she was frustrated. It was adorable.
I watched a video a couple years ago where they did an experiment with chimps. I thought they concluded that the "cantagious" yawning has to deal with the animals empathy and wanting to be like others, it was a social thing in pretty sure. I have no idea where to even find this article though so take that with a grain of salt
Mythbusters rated contagious yawns as plausible, I believe, because they observed multiple instances of yawns spreading throughout a building where the participants couldn't see each other.
Its all pretty interesting to think about honestly! Hopefully we get an actual answer instead of just speculation!
Lmao, the guy in the thumbnail painting was a big meme years ago on the internet. Remember that time lol
Joseph Ducreux. He did a load more.
i thought it was to clear out carbon dioxide build up deep in your lungs, and instinctually its an indicator of rest?
As someone with asthma and lowered ability to cycle out CO2, yawning has always helped me restore the "full" feeling and your comment just made everything snap into place.
The primary driver of suffocation panic, pain, and feeling of air starvation isn't the lack of oxygen but CO2 buildup. It makes sense that yawning on command could then help alleviate the symptoms of CO2 buildup in asthma sufferers.
Might be a group protection mechanism to indicate low oxigen in crammed spaces qith many individuals. In addition to that could be a geoup trigger for rest.
I always thought it was due to clearing the lungs out or to regulate them but then I saw a turtle yawn under water. I then thought it's ancestors wouldn't have been swimmers so maybe it's instinctive still, but then it would need a mechanism to prevent water inhalation. So why retain the yawn.
Perhaps as you say it's more about visual communication to others around you.
It seems most sensible to me that it serves a bunch of uses: clearing the lungs, alerting yourself and others that you're tired and probably need someone else to take over, social bonding, spooking predators..
LPT: Getting mauled by a kodiak? Try yawning!
I yawned as this was scrolling into view wtf
I had heard this and tried to get my dog to yawn. No dice.
Because I'm tired
Got me too
I wouldn't be surprised if it's not the human that instigates the yawn at all, and it's initiated by the lung microbiome to regulate its environment.
For science: anyone up for huffing some chlorine to see if their yawning goes away?
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