title: Rough-and-tumble play as a window on animal communication.
abstract: Rough-and-tumble play (RT) is a widespread phenomenon in mammals. Since it involves competition, whereby one animal attempts to gain advantage over another, RT runs the risk of escalation to serious fighting. Competition is typically curtailed by some degree of cooperation and different signals help negotiate potential mishaps during RT. This review provides a framework for such signals, showing that they range along two dimensions: one from signals borrowed from other functional contexts to those that are unique to play, and the other from purely emotional expressions to highly cognitive (intentional) constructions. Some animal taxa have exaggerated the emotional and cognitive interplay aspects of play signals, yielding admixtures of communication that have led to complex forms of RT. This complexity has been further exaggerated in some lineages by the development of specific novel gestures that can be used to negotiate playful mood and entice reluctant partners. Play-derived gestures may provide new mechanisms by which more sophisticated communication forms can evolve. Therefore, RT and playful communication provide a window into the study of social cognition, emotional regulation and the evolution of communication systems.
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, Via Roma, 79, CALCI, 56011 Pisa, Italy.|CNR, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Via Aldrovandi 16b, 00197 Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Tennessee, 1404 Circle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-0900, U.S.A.|Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, 1404 Circle Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-0900, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Gordon M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Burghardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1043, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Smuts
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, Via Roma, 79, CALCI, 56011 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giada
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cordoni
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, Via Roma, 79, CALCI, 56011 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dall'Olio
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Family Studies, University of Tennessee, 1215 Cumberland Avenue 422, Knoxville, TN 37996-1912, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Hillary N
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Fouts
authors.affiliation: Tarsius o.s., Na Pěšině 267, Děčín 40505, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Milada
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Řeháková-Petrů
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, 300 North Washington St., Gettysburg, PA 17325-1400, U.S.A.
authors.forename: Stephen M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Siviy
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4, Canada.
authors.forename: Sergio M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pellis
mesh_terms: D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D006801:Humans; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012919:Social Behavior
keywords: emotional signals; facial expressions; gestures; intentional signals; self-handicapping behaviour