A study found that, like human babies, newborn chimpanzees can laugh with joy or become fractious.

Professor Kim Bard, from the University of Portsmouth, said: "Chimps don’t get colic, they don’t get unconsolable crying, they only cry for a reason, and usually when you pick them up they don’t fuss any more.

 "They seem to have better control of their behavioural states when they are young."

Prof Bard, who said she never forgot the gruelling experience of becoming a mother, thought one reason baby chimps were better behaved than humans was that they matured faster.

"I think humans have this difficulty because of their extended immaturity," she told the British Science Festival at the University of Surrey in Guildford.

"Chimps being just slightly more advanced when they’re young don’t have the same problem."

Prof Bard also found that infant chimps had a wide range of facial expressions.

Although they mirrored the same emotional states in humans, there were important differences between the two species.

While joyful babies smiled with the corners of their mouths pulled back, infant chimps expressed happiness with a wide open mouth.

"Usually you don’t see the top or bottom teeth," said Prof Bard.

Her team recorded 13 different ‘smile configurations’ in human infants compared to 16 in apes.

Misjudging a chimp ‘smile’ could be a painful mistake, she said. For chimps, a toothy grin was an expression of fear or stress.

"If they have that expression and you run a finger down their tummy, they’re likely to bite you," Prof Bard added. "If a chimp has an open mouth, not necessarily with lip corners withdrawn, then it’s laughing."