Why do animals seem to smiling or sad? Are these universal expressions present in all animals or we recongnise the remotest facial feaures as some form of emotional expression?

Question

Why do animals seem to smiling or sad? Are these universal expressions present in all animals or we recongnise the remotest facial feaures as some form of emotional expression?

In: Biology

Answer 1

The latter. Human brains are well adapted to interpreting the faces of other humans. That’s why we often see faces in places where there are none, like “the man in the moon” or images of Jesus on pieces of toast.

It also means that we tend to see human emotions in the faces of non-human animals, even when those animals express their emotions in completely different ways (or may not have human emotions at all).