Peeing Contagion: A Shared Issues for Humans and Chimps Alike
Humans aren't the only ones who sometimes relieve themselves in the company of others. A recent study published in the journal Current Biology has revealed that peeing can be contagious among chimpanzees as well. Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan, led by doctoral student Ena Onishi, observed captive chimpanzees at the Kumamoto Sanctuary for hundreds of hours. They noticed that when one chimp decided to pee, others often followed suit.
Onishi's curiosity was piqued when she observed a similar tendency during a different research project. Inspired, she conducted a study to investigate the possibility of contagious urination in chimps. The researchers documented 1,328 urination "events," finding that chimps generally tended to pee more often after a fellow chimp had just finished.
The study revealed that proximity to the original leaker and social rank influenced the odds of a chimp peeing after another. Lower-ranking individuals were more likely to follow others in urinating, strengthening the idea that urination has a social component in chimpanzees.
This contagious behavior could potentially serve to ensure group cohesion, strengthen bonds between individuals, or act as an anti-predator strategy. Researchers hope to explore these possibilities further by observing other chimpanzee groups and studying its presence in different primate species.
This unique finding has implications for understanding the evolution of group coordination and hierarchy in social animals. While the contagious urination behavior observed in this study was specific to captive chimpanzees, further research may uncover similar patterns in other animals.
The study also highlighted the potential role of technology in future research, as scientists might use it to monitor and analyze contagious behaviors in various primate species. Furthermore, this contagious urination behavior in chimpanzees could overlap with other contagious behaviors in the realm of science, such as yawning or laughter, indicating a broader understanding of social dynamics among animals.
