• uphillbothways@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Seems like if you read between the lines, there’s a certain commonality in increased respiration/alertness, stress response and showing of teeth that solves a common need across species. When a subject recognizes a lack of alertness, a present threat or the need for aggressive action in the near future, a yawn can help prepare for that while also giving pause to those who might be threats and/or potentially paralyzing prey. The failure in consensus here appears, to me, an inability to describe those seemingly disparate needs as related to the physiology that drives them. Not a lack of understanding, so much as a deficiency in perlocution.

  • El Barto@lzrprt.sbs
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    1 year ago

    It’s from when caveman wanted to leave their friends cave and go home, but can’t get an ugg in and they don’t want to be rude.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I used to have a dog that would yawn with a little whine whenever she was frustrated. It was adorable.

        • bionicjoey@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          Yeah mine does it too, but the scream is so quiet compared to how wide his mouth is… It looks like he should be screaming a lot louder but it’s just this little squeak

    • digitalgadget@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      That’s pretty common among cats and dogs. Sometimes the clever ones will hide a bite they decided against at the last second with a yawn, too.

  • Ktheone@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Lmao, the guy in the thumbnail painting was a big meme years ago on the internet. Remember that time lol

  • Jebus@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I watched a video a couple years ago where they did an experiment with chimps. I thought they concluded that the “cantagious” yawning has to deal with the animals empathy and wanting to be like others, it was a social thing in pretty sure. I have no idea where to even find this video though so take that with a grain of salt

    • frozen@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Mythbusters rated contagious yawns as plausible, I believe, because they observed multiple instances of yawns spreading throughout a building where the participants couldn’t see each other.

      • Jebus@reddthat.com
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        1 year ago

        Its all pretty interesting to think about honestly! Hopefully we get an actual answer instead of just speculation!

  • Num10ck@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    i thought it was to clear out carbon dioxide build up deep in your lungs, and instinctually its an indicator of rest?

    • NovaPrime@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      As someone with asthma and lowered ability to cycle out CO2, yawning has always helped me restore the “full” feeling and your comment just made everything snap into place.

      The primary driver of suffocation panic, pain, and feeling of air starvation isn’t the lack of oxygen but CO2 buildup. It makes sense that yawning on command could then help alleviate the symptoms of CO2 buildup in asthma sufferers.

      • nomad@infosec.pub
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        1 year ago

        Might be a group protection mechanism to indicate low oxigen in crammed spaces qith many individuals. In addition to that could be a geoup trigger for rest.

    • Digestive_Biscuit@feddit.uk
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      1 year ago

      I always thought it was due to clearing the lungs out or to regulate them but then I saw a turtle yawn under water. I then thought it’s ancestors wouldn’t have been swimmers so maybe it’s instinctive still, but then it would need a mechanism to prevent water inhalation. So why retain the yawn.

      Perhaps as you say it’s more about visual communication to others around you.

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      1 year ago

      It seems most sensible to me that it serves a bunch of uses: clearing the lungs, alerting yourself and others that you’re tired and probably need someone else to take over, social bonding, spooking predators…