No Laughing Matter

Laughing hyenas in Berkeley? What next?

Researchers at UC Berkeley have been studying a clan of 26 spotted hyenas kept in captivity just behind campus. Studying the laughing sounds the hyenas make, the scientists found that variations in the giggles' pitch and timbre may help hyenas to establish social hierarchies.

Their research was published this week in the journal BMC Ecology.

According to the article, not only does the laugh give away the age and sex of the animal, it also displays the dominance of individuals within the clan. Frédéric Theunissen, a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and one of the authors of the paper, states that, "The hyena's laugh gives receivers cues to assess the social rank of the emitting individual. This may allow hyenas to establish feeding rights and organize their food-gathering activities."

The vocalizations are mainly produced during food contests by animals that are prevented from securing access to a kill, and have been considered a gesture of submission.

Though hyenas often get a bad rap, they are highly intelligent creatures and may be smarter than primates in areas of cooperation.

Laughter may be an important part of that. According to Theunissen, "Lions often eat prey previously killed by hyenas. A solitary hyena has no chance when confronted by a lion, whereas a hyena group often can 'mob' one or two lions and get their food back. Giggles could therefore allow the recruitment of allies. Cooperation and competition are everyday components of a hyena's life.”

Theunissen and his colleagues are now planning on taking their research out of Berkeley to study hyenas in the wild.

Creative Commons image by Ikiwaner