AMSTERDAM: Kissing did not begin with star-crossed human lovers but with the primate ancestors of great apes around 20 million years ago, according to a recent study.
Researchers from Oxford University and the Florida Institute of Technology wanted to examine when kissing began, given that – from an evolutionary standpoint – it has no obvious survival benefit and could even spread disease.
Yet humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and gorillas all kiss, which strongly suggests the habit was inherited from a shared ancestor. The experts combined observations of primate behaviour with data on evolutionary relationships, to rewind the clock and try and date the first kiss.