The article: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2023/03/31/empathy-has-ancient-origins-and-fish-feel-it-too/
Well, naturally, because marine life was here long before marine animals grew legs and lungs and migrated onto land.
So, empathy has ancient origins and this research shows that zebrafish has the ability to feel empathy.
Excerpts:
For example, a test showed that when fish watched videos showing other fish in danger, they had the reflex to move closer to their fellow fish, as if to connect with them or aid in recovering from the stressful experience.
“The brain regions associated with emotional contagion in zebrafish are homologous to those involved in the same process in rodents (e.g., striatum, lateral septum),” the study authors explain, “our results support an evolutionary conserved role for oxytocin as a key regulator of basic empathic behaviours across vertebrates.”
In other words, the emotional contagion observed in these fish, as well as in other species, is similar to the ability of humans to understand and feel the emotions of others.
So, fish have feelings, too.
