Feel the beat.

[Amazon 7]

http://www.physorg.com/news160315376.html

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. This 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.

Schachner and her colleagues closely studied Alex, a well-known African grey parrot who passed away shortly after the study, and Snowball, a sulphur-crested cockatoo whose humanlike dancing behavior had led to online fame.

"Our analyses showed that these birds' movements were more lined up with the musical beat than we'd expect by chance," says Schachner. "We found strong evidence that they were synchronizing with the beat, something that has not been seen before in other species."

The researchers noted that these two birds had something in common: an excellent ability to mimic sound.

"It had recently been theorized that vocal mimicry might be related to the ability to move to a beat," says Schachner. "The particular theory was that natural selection for vocal mimicry resulted in a brain mechanism that was also needed for moving to a beat. This theory made a really specific prediction: Only animals that can mimic sound should be able to keep a beat."

To test this prediction, Schachner needed data from a large variety of animals—so she turned to a novel source of data, the YouTube video database. Schachner systematically searched the database for videos of animals moving with the beat of the music, including vocal mimics such as parrots and vocal non-mimics such as dogs and cats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYMBIGTteWA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ephysorg%2Ecom%2Fnews160315376%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded

[The_Don 0]

Snowball rocks!

But I wonder how he would do.. AC/DC Highway to hell.

I am NOT being loud.
I'm being enthusiastic!

[BillyVance 35]

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Snowball rocks!

But I wonder how he would do.. AC/DC Highway to hell.

I'd think the parrots would sound exactly like Brian Johnson's screechy voice.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,590]

A friend tells me the bird was on NBC Nightly News tonight.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JohnMitchell 16]

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But I wonder how he would do.. AC/DC Highway to hell.

Any dancing to that song requires a stripper pole and stiletto heels.

[BillyVance 35]

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But I wonder how he would do.. AC/DC Highway to hell.

Any dancing to that song requires a stripper pole and stiletto heels.

Oh hell yeah! And Angus Young doing his famous scissor strut off to the side.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban