One of five wolf pups rescued from the edge of the Funny River wildfire in Alaska on May 27, 2014, is cared for at the veterinary facility of the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage. Photo: AP Photo/Alaska Zoo, John Gomes/MCT
People do not yawn just when they are sleepy. They also yawn when someone near them yawns. Chimpanzees and baboons have the same behavior. ###### But why? Scientists believe it is a sign that these animals are capable of feeling empathy.

A new study of wolves suggests it is more widespread among animals than experts had realized.

Yawning in response to another yawn is not precisely an emotional reaction. ######

Humans and other primates are more likely to "catch" a yawn when they are around those with whom they share "a close social bond." In people, contagious yawning is more common among those who get high scores on empathy tests. It is less common among those with mental conditions like autism that cause a lack of empathy, the researchers noted.

Dogs Yawn With Humans

###### However, there's a twist: They don't yawn in response to yawns from other dogs, but to yawns from people. What's more, the yawns are more contagious when the person doing the yawning has a strong emotional connection to the dog.

These observations caused the University of Tokyo researchers to wonder whether dogs' role as man's best friend made them the only nonprimates capable of contagious yawning.

###### "Thus, it could be possible that dogs' ability to yawn contagiously evolved with the capacity for reading human communicative signals."

On the other hand, if dogs were born likely to catch yawns, then wolves should be too. Wolves are the closest relatives of dogs and are "highly social" like dogs, the researchers wrote.

###### Among the residents was a pack of 12 wolves - a mother, a father and their 10 offspring (five males and five females). They logged 254 hours of observation time over a five-month period, paying special attention to yawns.]]>