Keeping a beat tells us about an animal’s neural mechanisms
Watching a dog rockin’ out to music is pure entertainment, and yet it is so much more. In science speak, the way to say that animals can keep a beat is that they have the ability to entrain movement to external rhythms. YouTube Sensation Snowball the Cockatoo demonstrated avian rhythm and showed that this talent is not exclusive to humans.
Initially, scientists hypothesized that only animals who are capable of vocal mimicry or complex vocal learning can keep a beat. This suggested that perhaps both abilities rely on the same neural mechanisms, but further study disproved this idea.
via Whisker Therapy