By Toby Sterling

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Kissing did not begin with star-crossed human lovers but with the primate ancestors of great apes around 20 million years ago, according to a study published on Wednesday.

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. Scientists in the study combined observations of primate behaviour with data on evolutionary relationships, to rewind the clock and try and date the first kiss.

“Using these two key pieces of information, we employed a modellin

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