Rats 'Smile' With Their Ears: New Insight Into Their Emotional Lives
Scientists have uncovered a fascinating detail about rats' emotional expressions. They've discovered that rats 'smile' with their ears, a sign that could help improve the welfare of captive animals.
Researchers have found that when rats are happy, their ears turn pink due to increased blood flow. This could be a result of exercise or simply feeling content. The study, the first of its kind to look for signs of positive emotions on rats' faces, also revealed that rats relax their ears when they're happy, allowing them to hang loosely to the side.
The discovery builds on previous research showing that rats enjoy being tickled and emit a 'laughing' sound. It also aligns with observations that many animals use similar emotional expressions when playing with each other. However, individual rats have different preferences for tickling based on their personality, highlighting the complexity of their emotions.
Interestingly, rats can also read at least one human emotional expression: pain. They avoid photographs of rats in pain, indicating a shared understanding of certain emotions.
The rat 'smile', marked by pink ears, offers a new insight into these intelligent creatures' emotional lives. Recognizing such signs could help improve the quality of life for captive rats and other animals. Future research could delve deeper into the emotional world of rats and other animals, potentially leading to better animal welfare practices.
