Cross-species social touch

The present paper intends to investigate the studies done in the last decades on the role of social contact and how it has changed during evolution starting from non-human primates to human beings, transforming itself into language. Particular emphasis will be placed on the role that the CT fibers play in social contact, continuing with a description of the various types of grooming performed by different animal species with greater attention to non-human primates. Finally the social touch in human beings will be analyzed, as it changes according to the culture and individual differences and as nowadays social networks are influencing it. However, it is necessary to point out the scarcity of material concerning some animal species, besides there is no evidence on the hypothesis that the social touch is the precursor of language. Future research could set itself the goal of deepening the social language-touch connection and how the social touch is changing under the influence of the media which increasingly allow distance communication.