Yawn
A yawning koala, 1936
Organisms	Vertebrates
Biological system	Nervous system
Health	Unaffected or beneficial
Action	Involuntary
Stimuli	Fatigue Boredom Stress Sleepiness Others mirror neuron reflex
Method	Complete extension of jaw, inhalation, eyes close, stretching of the eardrum, exhalation
Duration	Usually 6 seconds[1]

A yawn is a reflex in vertebrate animals characterized by a long inspiratory phase with gradual mouth gaping, followed by a brief climax (or acme) with muscle stretching, and a rapid expiratory phase with muscle relaxation, which typically lasts a few seconds.^[2][3] For fish and birds, this is described as gradual mouth gaping, staying open for at least three seconds and subsequently a rapid closure of the mouth.^[4] Almost all vertebrate animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even fish, experience yawning. The study of yawning is called chasmology.^[5][6][7]

Yawning (oscitation) most often occurs in adults immediately before and after sleep, during tedious activities and as a result of its contagious quality.^[8] It is commonly associated with tiredness, stress, sleepiness, boredom, or even hunger. In humans, yawning is often triggered by the perception that others are yawning (for example, seeing a person yawning, or talking to someone on the phone who is yawning). This is a typical example of echopraxia and positive feedback.^[9][10] This "contagious" yawning has also been observed in chimpanzees, dogs, cats, birds, and reptiles and can occur between members of different species.^[11][12][13] Approximately twenty psychological reasons for yawning have been proposed by scholars, but there is little agreement on the primacy of any one.^[8]

During a yawn, muscles around the airway are fully stretched, including chewing and swallowing muscles.^[14] Due to these strong repositioning muscle movements, the airway (lungs and throat) dilates to three or four times its original size.^[15][16] The tensor tympani muscle in the middle ear contracts, which creates a rumbling noise perceived as coming from within the head; however, the noise is due to mechanical disturbance of the hearing apparatus and is not generated by the motion of air. Yawning is sometimes accompanied, in humans and other animals, by an instinctive act of stretching several parts of the body including the arms, neck, shoulders and back. In humans it is often visible that nostrils are dilating involuntary during yawning.