1. Bovine Buddies
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A British subject field published this month uncover that individual cow form plastered “ best friendly relationship ” with others cattle , with whom they wile away the warm afternoons chewing cud and shootin ’ the bull . When a moo-cow is take aside from her “ best booster , ” her stress levels increase and her milk yields fall . “ When heifer have their best-loved partner with them , their stress level … are reduced compare with if they were with a random someone , ” said Krista McLennan , a grad student at Northampton University whodiscovered the correlativity .
2. Holy Midwives, Batman!
research worker examine wild Bechstein ’s at-bat found that , like cows , distaff bats choose specific fellow with whom they rest and , um , hang out with . These friendships can last year and sometimes a lifespan , according to a study published earlier this year in theProceedings of the Royal Society B. Some distaff chiropteran were even base to act as accoucheuse for their friends . In one documented causa , a female fruit chiropteran in Florida “ repeatedly groomed and hugged [ another , unrelated ] pregnant at-bat during her pregnancy , ” consort to an article inDiscovery News . The attending chiropteran , along with another friend , then later fanned the female parent with their offstage .
3. Pachyderm’s Dilemma
Elephant Friend are able-bodied to outwit a vestigial version of the Prisoner ’s Dilemma , the famous problem in plot theory . accord to researcher fromEmory Universityand the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Thailand , elephants were able to figure out that if they worked together , pulling two end of the same piece of roach simultaneously , they ’d get a treat , whereas if one elephant pulled the forget me drug without the other ’s participation , neither elephant was rewarded . In both the wild and captivity , elephants have long been observed to shape close , sometimes spirit - prospicient friendships with other elephants , eating together , bathe together and — in a uniquely pachydermy show of erotic love — draping their ears and automobile trunk over a friend ’s nous , trunk , or back .
4. You Scratch My Back, I’ll Scratch Yours
Both manful and female Pan troglodytes often form long - term friendships with other chimpanzee of their own sexual urge to whom they are unrelated . Chimp pals generally do what human pals do : they partake in food , hang out together , take sleep , patrol their surroundings and — perhaps most importantly — groom one another . Whether two chimp supporter groom each other for roughly the same amount of sentence per day is a primary indicator of how long their friendship will last . manlike friendly relationship tend to last about seven years , according to aUniversity of Michigan study , but other chimp friendships can last a lifespan .
During multiplication of high strain , chimp champion often seek comfort and reassurance from one another , petting , squeeze and show sympathy for their pals .
5. (Dolphin) Ladies Night
Friendships among female dolphin look a lot like friendships among female humans out for a night on the town . Like any honorable girl , female dolphins protect their friends from inappropriate manly dolphins attempting to breed with them , and from sharks and other predators , according to a late written report published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .
Male mahimahi also — perhaps not surprisingly , cave in the social anthropology of a nightclub — locomotion witha wingman or two . One of the elemental office these stiff - pucker male couple and troika play is to aid their buddies mate with a female before she can swim away .
