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Why do animals yawn – and people as well. Scientists decided it was not out of boredom: research

The larger the brain in vertebrates and the more neurons per unit volume, the longer they yawn. Such a study was carried out by an international group of scientists, the results were published yesterday in the journal Nature Biology.

 

1291 yawns were analyzed in 55 mammalian and 46 bird species. The authors went to zoos, waited at the enclosures and took pictures, and also watched videos of yawning animals on the Internet.

The article notes that yawning does not saturate the blood with oxygen – this is a myth. However, it supposedly performs a thermoregulatory function: it cools the brain by simultaneously inhaling cool air and stretching the muscles near the mouth. It has been noticed that people rarely yawn (usually 5-10 times a day) when they press something cool to their head.

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It was also found that regardless of body size, the duration of yawning in different species increases with an increase in the size of the brain and the number of neurons in it. In other words, the more / more active the “processor”, the better it needs to be cooled.

It turned out that mammals yawn longer than birds. Scientists explain this by the fact that birds have a higher body temperature and their blood cools faster; allegedly because they have enough short blunders.

The authors concluded that society “may need to stop seeing yawning as rudeness, and instead understand that the person is involuntarily trying to remain attentive.”

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