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
Dogs are skilled at reading human behaviors, the scientists said. They wondered if that skill caused them to yawn. They also wanted to know if any other animals could catch a yawn, aside from apes and chimps of course.

###### Wolves are the closest relative of dogs. If dogs were born knowing how to yawn, wolves might be too.

So the scientists went to a zoo near Tokyo. In the zoo was a pack of 12 wolves. ###### The scientists spent five months watching the wolves. They paid attention to when they yawned.

Scientists only looked at certain wolf yawns. They were interested in yawns when wolves were awake and relaxed. ###### They also watched the other wolves nearby to see if they were looking at the wolf who yawned.

Yawning Wolves

After one wolf yawned, the scientists then watched the nearby wolves for the next three minutes. They wanted to see if any of them yawned. If they did, they wrote down the time between the first yawn and the next yawn.

###### They wanted to see if the wolves yawned just anytime.

The scientists found that one wolf yawning could make another wolf yawn. But it happened more often if the two animals were friends. If wolves could see the yawns, they were more likely to yawn.

###### Yawning together makes the wolves feel more connected. It helps them get along as a pack.]]>