A smile is a facial expression that generally indicates happiness, joy, pleasure, or amusement. According to Wikipedia, Signe Preuschoft, a primatologist, traced the smile back over 30 million years! It started as a ‘fear grin’ among primates who would show their clenched teeth to a predator to let them know that they were harmless or to signal submissiveness.
![smiling gecko](http://www.relayhero.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1-126.jpg.webp)
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When people give a human emotion to an animal is it called anthropomorphism. And it is an innate tendency of human beings.
![smiling gecko](https://www.relayhero.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2-126.jpg.webp)
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In modern literature, stories like Pinocchio, The Jungle Book and Winnie-the-Pooh (just to name a few), feature animals and creatures that exhibit human traits and emotions (some of the animals even talk and walk like humans).
![smiling gecko](https://www.relayhero.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3-116.jpg.webp)
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According to Wikipedia, biologists warn us not to assume animals have the same mental, social, or emotional abilities as humans – but that really does take the fun out of things!
![smiling gecko](https://www.relayhero.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/4-101.jpg.webp)
Image Credit: 589_tomo / Instagram