A kiss may be a symbol of romance for years but that's not how it started off as. Have you ever wondered as to what must have prompted two human lips to meet? It wasn't even a bit of romance, but rather hunger. So before progressing from a kiss to smooch as a sign of lust or love, it was the need of hunger which got two lips closer. Philematology- a field dedicated to the study of kissing which looks at the start and development of the gesture of kissing.

The earliest of research done on kissing looks back at chimpanzees to observe then study human behaviour. Our stomachs rumbling could have resulted in what is termed as 'kiss-feeding' which has then evolved into making out. Kiss-feeding is a way of getting pre-chewed food into one another’s mouths. It is the most prevalent theories as to why humans kiss. It was a way to pass food to each other. And it has also been observed that humans actually associate more of the tongue entangling, giving it lustful and romantic feelings.

Primates like chimpanzees and bonobos, do kiss but do not enjoy it as much. A human kiss precursor, ie the kiss-feeding is equivalent to what we have termed as the French kiss.  But again, there is also a counter approach that it came out of an instinctual evolution.

Kisses aren't romantic after all!

Another interesting fact about a human kiss is that saliva emits chemical signals. It in a way stimulates sex drive, romantic love and attachment. The act  evolved as a "mechanism for mate choice and selection." So while some animals have a way of peeing to mark their boundaries and find a partner, kissing may be the human equivalent used for attractiveness. So it was a gradual evolution but humans stuck to associating romance than exchanging morsels.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 25, 2018 02:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).