Elephants yawn, apparently, something scientists long suspected but had never actually “noticed” until a team of scientists from the University of California, Davis, recently caught some sleepy pachyderms on video. (The researchers use the word “noticed” in their writeup, as if the gaping yawn of a 15,000-plus-pound creature is something one could just, you know, miss.) Next, the UC Davis team plans to look for evidence of contagious yawning, which would (maybe) suggest the animals are capable of empathy, New Scientist reports. Because it’s Friday and because it’s pretty cute, please enjoy this brief video of zoo elephants stretching and yawning early in the morning.
