2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
British zoologists analyzed the joint movements of two female common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) living in one of the American zoos, and came to the conclusion that they are distinguished by well-oiled synchronous bipedalism. If we draw an analogy with human dances, then the movements of chimpanzees are most reminiscent of the conga, a Cuban dance in which participants line up and move synchronously one after the other. It is curious that the only reason for such movements in animals is the manifestation of affiliate behavior, scientists write in Scientific Reports.
Pair dance requires not only the ability of each of the participants to move to the music, but also their ability to synchronize movements and maintain the general rhythm of the dance. This activity requires a well-coordinated motor system of each of the participants and an understanding of how the other moves - and for species other than humans, this can be very difficult.
Nevertheless, not only humans, but also, for example, some monkeys, have an understanding of what rhythm is. Accordingly, they can potentially be taught to dance movements (and this has already been shown), but until now it was not known whether other primate species could synchronize their actions with each other on their own, without additional training.
Adriano Lameira of the University of Warwick and his colleagues focused on two female chimpanzees living at the St. Louis Zoo: Holly and Bakary. For several years they got on amateur videos, performing something similar to the Cuban conga dance - they rhythmically walked one after another, synchronizing the movements of their legs. The researchers collected all the available videos (there were a total of 21) and made graphs of the movement of the legs of each of the participants, depending on time.
The average duration of the synchronous bipedal step of Holia and Bakari was 24.6 seconds, and each step lasted from 0.81 to 1.49 seconds. This is faster than a single chimpanzee stride in the wild, faster than in captivity, but generally within the average, which is why scientists concluded that a step during a joint movement is similar to a single movement. Correlation analysis of the step frequency showed that, on average, chimpanzees lag behind each other by zero seconds, which means that their joint pace is maintained. Also correlated (p <0, 0001) and the tilt angles of Holly and Bakari during movement - this, in turn, means that their movements were strictly synchronized.
Thus, the authors managed to show that pair dance is not an exclusively human occupation. Taking into account that both chimpanzees are females who have known each other since childhood, their dance is a manifestation of affiliated (friendly) behavior, and can also be a kind of entertainment: both for each other and for themselves. The reasons for the formation of the dance repertoire in both individuals are not yet completely clear. According to the authors of the article, the reason may be that both Holly and Bakari grew up without mothers from the age of four months: lack of maternal care often leads to the fact that children exhibit a tendency to repetitive activities - the same, apparently, can work for other primates too.
Single dance is much easier for animals; moreover, some types can master it on their own. For example, this year, scientists have discovered that the repertoire of one large yellow-crested cockatoo named Snowball includes 16 dance moves, which he synchronizes with the rhythm of the music included in him.
