(ORDO NEWS) — From time to time, employees of zoos and science centers notice how great apes begin to senselessly rotate around their own axis. And now it became clear why they do it.
For a long time, scientists believed that “escaping reality” with the help of special rituals and the use of special chemicals is a purely human practice.
Wild animals are ostensibly too focused on surviving to deliberately put themselves into a state where they become vulnerable to predators.
However, over time, evidence began to accumulate that our closest relatives, great apes, from time to time exhibit strange behavior: they quickly rotate in place, after which they behave like “drunks” for a while.
It is curious that not only animals kept in captivity are engaged in this, but also living in the wild.
After analyzing more than 40 videos, scientists from the University of Warwick and Birmingham (UK) recorded this behavior in chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans.
The monkeys both rotated themselves and used vines and ropes to achieve a higher rotation speed.
Whilst spinning rapidly can make you feel nauseous and dizzy, it can also change your state of mind, leading to incoordination and even high spirits – it’s not for nothing that the spinning merry-go-round remains one of the favorite pastimes for children around the world.
Since the monkeys did this on purpose, and continued to spin until they lost their balance and fell, it can be assumed that they did this for pleasure.
This study gives us clues about how the human mind developed and how our ancestors explored the capabilities of their brains.
Probably, just like today’s children or great apes, the predecessors of modern humans, from time to time began to spin in place to stimulate their senses and experience new exhilarating experiences.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.