Evolutionary biologists have been investigating the evolutionarily origins of kissing by taking a broad look at behaviour in Afro-Eurasian primates, a family tree that includes chimps, bonobos, and us, Homo sapiens , and our ancient ancestors. They found that lip-touching displays of affection are found in most of the large apes, suggesting it emerged in an extinct ancestor of this group around 21.5 to 16.9 million years ago. In other words, kissing likely evolved around 21 million years ago in our distant primate family, and everyone has been at it since. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

"This is the first time anyone has taken a broad evolutionary lens to examine kissing," Dr Matilda Brindle, lead author and evoluti

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