US EditionKissing started 20 million years ago, long before humans existed
A modeling study estimates kissing began 16.9–21.5 million years ago in ape ancestors, with 46% of humans still practicing it today, researchers said.
- Around 20 million years ago, researchers at Oxford University and the Florida Institute of Technology suggested ape ancestors likely engaged in mouth-to-mouth contact, indicating kissing's ancient origins.
- Researchers wanted to know when kissing began because it appears to have no obvious survival benefit and can spread disease, so researchers from Oxford University and the Florida Institute of Technology reviewed decades of primate studies.
- Using an operational definition, the team ran more than 10 million simulations to estimate when primates first kissed, Brindle explained, based on comparisons of chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and one gorilla species.
- The study argues Neanderthals and humans likely locked lips, citing evidence of interbreeding and shared oral microbes implying saliva exchange, while findings suggest kissing aids social bonding, mate assessment and parent–infant behaviours and lays groundwork for future research.
- How kissing emerged remains a subject of debate, with limits noted as much behavioural data come from captive animals; kissing is not universal, with oldest written records about 4,500 years and a 2015 study finding 46% practice it.
14 Articles
14 Articles
It's what people do, it's done by monkeys and even polar bears, and now researchers have reconstructed the evolution of kisses.
Kissing started 20 million years ago, long before humans existed
Kissing may feel like a very human habit, but new research suggests it has much deeper roots. A team of scientists says the behavior likely began more than 20 million years ago, long before modern humans existed.
Researchers have found that kissing is not a cultural invention, and the origins go much further back than ever thought.
Researchers have found that kissing is not a cultural invention, and the origins go much further back than ever thought.
The kissing could be about 21 million years old, now yielded an evolutionary biological analysis. The Neanderthal also knew the kiss
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