But can you explain in any objective way how that is different from equivalent expressions utilised by rabbits or kangaroos or horses?
To me this seems like classic anthopmorphism. Because youhave experience with dogs you believe that a dog behaviour that is totally dissimilar to a human grin is a grin. Yet a behaviour diplsayed by another speices that has an identical pupose is dismissed because you are able to mistake it for something else.
I’ll ask you again, can you name a single mammal species that doesn’t utilise “a facial expression intended to show pleasure and invite interaction”.
It is just posible that the montremes don’t because they have such immobile faces. But all other mammal species I am familiar with utilise “a facial expression intended to show pleasure and invite interaction”. That leads me to believe that by this definition all mammal species grin.
Showing teeth isn’t a requirement of a grin or a smile. When I think of a “dog smile,” I think of a closed-mouth (or nearly closed-mouth) happy expression my Aussie Shepherd shows. I certainly don’t think of bared teeth threat displays.
This is precisely my point. The expression has no correlation whatsoever to a human grin or smile. You only know it is a happy expression because you are so familiar with dogs.
Let me ask you this, what expression would a horse or rabbit adopt in the same sitaution? What does a happy sea-lion look like? I’m betting that you can’t tell me. That doesn;t mean that those animals don’t have happy expressions, it just means that you aren’t familiar with them.
By this process we have to conclude that every mammal species “grins” and most of us aren’t familiar enought ot recognise what that expresisonis. Or more reasonably as far as I’m cncerned we simply conclude that a grin is a grin and involves bearing teeth as an expression and only huymans grin. All other mammals have facial expressions of pleasure but those expressions aren’t grins.
Then wouldn’t it be physically impossible for any other animal to truly grin, as they’re not built exactly as humans are? You’ve raised the bar impossibly high.
When my oldest dog grins, it’s pretty unmistakable. His mouth is open, and pulled back and up at the corners (just like what you and I do when we grin). His eyes squint slightly (again, just like a human would). His ears are laid back against his head (my ears aren’t big enough to do this).
It sure as hell looks like a grin to me.
Baring the teeth- that’s a smile, and if a dog does that, he’s not expressing happiness.
I’m not really certain what you’re looking for. It’s not anthropomorphizing to say that dogs grin- if it looks like a grin, and they’re doing it because they’re happy, what the hell is it?
You can stipulate that a grin requires baring of teeth. But the OP asked which animals smile or grin. A smile does not require the baring of teeth, it can be just the upward turning of both corners of the mouth. On numerous occasions I’ve seen cats do this when they are being scratched or petted, which we can assume is an expression of pleasure.
My mother has repeatedly told me that I was born smilling and laughing; in one hand I don´t think she´d BS me for no apparent reason, on the other I´ve always thought that smiling and laughing where learned behaviours.
Some australian shepherds grin - they flip their top and bottom lips, close their eyes, and flash their front teeth at you.
This is thought to be a submissive trait. Not all aussies do it. There seems to be an inherited factor to it.
From far away, it looks like a snarl. One of my two aussies does it, specifically when he sees some of his favorite people (his auntie Em, his uncles Chuck and Ben, and so on). He wiggles like mad, lowers his head, closes his eyes, and grins.
It’s quite hilarious. To the untrained eye, it could look threatening.
Elenfair’s examples are all how Hoover smiles. Hoover is an Australian Kelpie (a type of cattle dog) so maybe it’s an Australian trait? Our old dog Cindy would smile like that on rare occasions and she was a Silky Terrier, which is another Australian breed. Cindy would only smile in a specific circumstance - if she had done something very naughty while we were out, she would greet us with this meek, pathetic, teeth-bared grin.
There’s a lot of sites out there that state “Even babies blind from birth begin to smile at around 1 month of age”. I don’t know what the source of this statement is but if true it would suggest that it’s natural rather than learned.
A sea lion? No idea. A rabbit? I’ve never really noticed expressions. A horse? They definitely have different expressions, and I know them pretty well. I can tell when my horses are happy, or pissed off, or playful, or scared.
My half-Aussie does this. She is most certainly showing teeth, and there’s absolutely no way to confuse it with aggression. It’s when she’s excited and happy, and looking for attention.
Hmmm…I have a friend blind from birth and in her baby pictures, she’s smiling like any other little girl. Of course, she would have felt and patted a lot of faces that were doing that to her, but it does seem somewhat inherent.
I think there definitely is an expression for doggie happiness, and it doesn’t involve teeth per se–the dog pricks up his ears and opens his mouth, but not all the way, and looks at you with tail a’wagging.