Sharing playful mood: rapid facial mimicry in Suricata suricatta

Abstract

One of the most productive behavioural domains to study visual communication in mammals is social play. The ability to manage play-fighting interactions can favour the development of communicative modules and their correct decoding. Due to their high levels of social cohesion and cooperation, slender-tailed meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are a very good model to test some hypotheses on the role of facial communication in synchronizing playful motor actions. We found that the relaxed open mouth (ROM), a playful facial expression conveying a positive mood in several social mammals, is also present in meerkats. ROM was mainly perceived during dyadic playful sessions compared to polyadic ones. We also found that meerkats mimic in a very rapid and automatic way the ROM emitted by playmates (Rapid Facial Mimicry, RFM). RFM was positively correlated with the relationship quality shared by subjects thus suggesting that the mimicry phenomenon is socially modulated. Moreover, more than the mere presence of isolated ROMs, the presence of at RFM prolonged the duration of the play session. Through RFM animals can share the emotional mood they are experiencing and this appears to be particularly adaptive in those species whose relationships are not inhibited by rank rules and when animals build and maintain their bonds through social affiliation. The meerkat society is cohesive and cooperative. Such features could have therefore favoured the evolution of facial mimicry, a phenomenon linked to emotional contagion, one of the most basic forms of empathy.

Play behavior in immature moor macaques (Macaca maura) and Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata)

“…Play faces are generally considered spontaneous emotional expressions, rather than intentional communicative acts (Scopa & Palagi, 2016), and a higher rate of play faces (i.e., per unit of play time) in less despotic species may be explained by the fact that these species are more free to express their emotions (Mancini et al, 2013; Palagi & Mancini, 2011; Palagi et al, 2016; S. M. Pellis et al, 2011; Scopa & Palagi, 2016). Therefore, a higher rate of play faces in MM is not surprising, although previous studies have failed to find differences in the rate of play faces between more and less despotic species (Mancini et al, 2013; Palagi, Marchi, Cavicchio, & Bandoli, 2019; Palagi, Norscia, Pressi, & Cordoni, 2018; Scopa & Palagi, 2016). A higher rate of play faces was also linked to a higher occurrence of reciprocal bites, but had no significant effect on the proportion of time spent in noncontact play behavior.…”

“…Future studies should also observe individuals longitudinally, to examine the development of play behavior and its long‐term effects on primate sociality (e.g., play partners in the early years form close social bonds also as adults; larger networks of play partners predict survival and fitness in the adulthood). Finally, more detailed studies on the functions of play face are needed, including research on rapid facial mimicry and the role it plays across different species (Mancini et al, 2013; Palagi et al, 2019; Scopa & Palagi, 2016).…”

The Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Laughter and Smiles in Hominids

“…Like play faces of mammals, in general, these primate expressions seem to guide play activities among the playmates by prolonging play and avoiding escalations into fights (Bekoff, 1995 ; Waller and Dunbar, 2005 ; Davila-Ross et al, 2011 ; Mancini et al, 2013 ). They can be spontaneously produced behaviors as well as responses to open-mouth faces of their playmates, for instance via rapid facial mimicry (Davila-Ross et al, 2008 , 2011 ; Mancini et al, 2013 ; Palagi et al, 2019b ).…”

Play vocalisations and human laughter: a comparative review

“…Overall, the acoustic form of colaughter suggests a group chorusing function (Bryant et al 2020). While few (if any) nonhuman play signals appear to have this chorusing function, some play signals are known to be contagious among dyads, as in the case of rapid facial mimicry of primate play faces or the contagion of play vocalisations in keas (Mancini et al 2013;Schwing et al 2017;Palagi et al 2019).…”