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Have you ever laughed so much your tummy hurt?

It turns out humans aren't the only ones who love a good giggle.

Scientists have discovered that apes, including gorillas and chimpanzees, laugh in ways that are surprisingly similar to us.

Experts say the discovery could help us better understand where human speech first came from.

All living great apes - such as chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans - laugh.

Unlike speech, laughter is one thing that we share with our common ancestors.

However, scientists weren't sure how human laughter may have changed over millions of years of evolution, or how it might be linked to the development of human speech.

A team of scientists from the University of Warwick, decided to take a closer look.

Researchers studied the recordings of 13 different great apes as they were being gently tickled.

They then compared those sounds with recordings of four young children laughing while they played and were being tickled at home.

Experts were surprised by their results.

The team found that the laughs of humans and great apes have a very similar rhythm, with regular gaps between each laugh.

Researchers say this may have been passed down from a common ancestor that lived about 15 million years ago.

The study's author, Dr Chiara De Gregorio from the University of Warwick explained: "Unlike speech, laughter is shared by all living great apes.

"By comparing how different species laugh, we can see that a basic rhythmic structure has remained unchanged since our last common ancestor. That's extraordinary."

However, scientists also noticed some differences between the two sets of laughter.

Human giggles are more varied and can be used in many different situations - for example when we're a little happy, nervous or just trying to be polite.

Great apes, on the other hand, mainly laugh during play or when they are being tickled.

Researchers say this change in how laughter is used could be linked to the development of more complex communication, such as human speech.

They hope the findings will help them better understand how language evolved over time.