How kissing emerged remains a subject of debate. Photo: AP PHOTO

Kissing didn't begin with star-crossed human lovers but with the primate ancestors of great apes around 20 million years ago.

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Researchers from Oxford University and the Florida Institute of Technology wanted to examine when kissing began, given that from an evolutionary standpoint it has no obvious survival benefit, and could spread disease.

Yet humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, and gorillas all kiss, which strongly suggests the habit was inherited from a shared ancestor.

Chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans and

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