Some vocal-mimicking animals, particularly parrots, can move to a musical beat

Thursday, April 30, 2009 - 11:14 in Psychology & Sociology

Researchers at Harvard University have found that humans aren’t the only ones who can groove to a beat — some other species can dance, too. The capability was previously believed to be specific to humans. The research team found that only species that can mimic sound seem to be able to keep a beat, implying an evolutionary link between the two capacities.The study was led by Adena Schachner, a doctoral candidate in psychology at Harvard, and is published in the current issue of Current Biology. Schachner’s co-authors are Marc Hauser, professor of psychology at Harvard; Irene Pepperberg, lecturer at Harvard and adjunct associate professor of psychology at Brandeis University; and Timothy Brady, a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.read more

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