GabyResearchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in the Netherlands have reached a fascinating conclusion: these marine mammals can recognize different rhythms without any prior training, much like humans do. In a recent article published in the journal Biology Letters, the scientific team revealed that even our closest relatives—primates—need to be taught how to respond to rhythm.
Dr. Laura Verga, the lead author of the study, pointed out that seals have long been known as quite musical creatures. Now, scientists have tested their rhythmic abilities and uncovered new talents among these animals. To do this, the researchers created various seal vocalizations that differed in rhythm. The sequences varied across three rhythmic properties: tempo (fast or slow), length (short or long), and regularity (regular or irregular, like in jazz).
The team tested 20 young seals that were housed in a rehabilitation center in Pieterburen before their release into the sea. The seals listened to the vocalizations one after another, while the scientists recorded how often each animal turned its head to look at the sound source behind them. This behavior indicated the level of interest the seal had in what it heard. (A similar method is often used to assess the rhythmic abilities of children.)
It became clear that seals can distinguish between different rhythms based on whether they turned their heads toward the sound, how often they did so, and how long they looked in that direction. This behavior demonstrated whether the animals found the auditory stimulus interesting. As it turns out, seals can differentiate various rhythms; when they hear a sequence they enjoy, they tend to look toward the sound longer or more frequently. Researchers noted that the mammals were particularly captivated by longer, faster, and rhythmically precise vocalizations.
This indicates that seals—without any training or rewards—can distinguish between regular (metronomic) and irregular (arrhythmic) sequences, as well as sequences with short and long notes, and fast and slow tempos. As Dr. Verga summarized, seals are yet another species, alongside humans, that understand rhythms. This represents a significant step forward in the debates surrounding the evolutionary origins of human language and musicality, as highlighted by Sci.news. This topic has remained quite mysterious. Just like human infants, seals develop the ability to perceive rhythms at an early age, and this ability is stable and does not require training.
